Museum Hopper

last but not least! on our last day in florence (and the worst weather day of the trip), we made our way to the  uffizi , the mecca for art in italy.   2.6% of my   "1001 paintings to see before you die"   are in that museum!   i booked tickets about two months earlier giving us a 10 AM admission.  like the academy  it was worth the extra 4 EUR per person to have this reservation.  also, please remember your reservation number; that turns out to be the only way that they can look up your reservation!  the reservation allows you to go into a special line.  they admit that line prior to anyone in the other line. the tour groups within the uffizi were out of control.  i (and jason, in particular) wish they had some limits on size since some of them were over forty people huddled around a tiny painting! the museum is pretty easily laid out and it sure is easy to just follow the crowd.  we did laugh that the museum was on...

we spent a lot of time over our few days in florence around and in the duomo. it has a number of buildings that are also considered part of the complex like the bapistry, the bell tower, and a museum! it is hard to miss the duomo in florence.  it seemed as though it is exactly in the middle of the city.  we passed it to go everywhere! the duomo in the skyline from plazzo michaelangelo front door view of the dome from the bell tower to start with, we bought some sort of combo ticket that included entrance to everything except the dome.  the line to the dome seemed rather long (i.e. make a reservation if you decide to go).  the dome is pretty interesting since you get to walk around the inside of it and really study the ceiling murals.  instead of the dome, we opted to climb up the bell tower, which did not have a line. the bell tower's formal name is giotto's campanile .  the climb to the the top of the bell tower was a relatively stand...

we spent a lot of time over our few days in florence around and in the duomo. it has a number of buildings that are also considered part of the complex like the bapistry, the bell tower, and a museum! it is hard to miss the duomo in florence.  it seemed as though it is exactly in the middle of the city.  we passed it to go everywhere! the duomo in the skyline from plazzo michaelangelo front door view of the dome from the bell tower to start with, we bought some sort of combo ticket that included entrance to everything except the dome.  the line to the dome seemed rather long (i.e. make a reservation if you decide to go).  the dome is pretty interesting since you get to walk around the inside of it and really study the ceiling murals.  instead of the dome, we opted to climb up the bell tower, which did not have a line. the bell tower's formal name is giotto's campanile .  the climb to the the top of the bell tower was a relatively stand...

the first time i was in florence, i did not visit the pitti palace .  i really had no idea it exists in a way!  we decided we definitely needed to visit it on this trip.   it is quite impressive to see as you walk up to it.  after the tiny narrow streets of florence, this p alace takes up a few city blocks with a large stone "lawn" in front of it. the museum was two tickets for entry to various exhibits.  each ticket allows entrance to various museums and gardens in the palace.  of course, the two top areas, the palatine galleries and the boboli gardens are on separate entry tickets.  i wish they had charged a higher rate and put them all on one ticket. we went to one gallery thinking it was on our ticket and of course, it was not. we went straight to the palatine gallery and was lucky enough to reach it before the tourist groups did!  it had some beautiful renaissance art.  it is definitely a quantity museum with rooms filled to t...

the first time i was in florence, i did not visit the pitti palace .  i really had no idea it exists in a way!  we decided we definitely needed to visit it on this trip.   it is quite impressive to see as you walk up to it.  after the tiny narrow streets of florence, this p alace takes up a few city blocks with a large stone "lawn" in front of it. the museum was two tickets for entry to various exhibits.  each ticket allows entrance to various museums and gardens in the palace.  of course, the two top areas, the palatine galleries and the boboli gardens are on separate entry tickets.  i wish they had charged a higher rate and put them all on one ticket. we went to one gallery thinking it was on our ticket and of course, it was not. we went straight to the palatine gallery and was lucky enough to reach it before the tourist groups did!  it had some beautiful renaissance art.  it is definitely a quantity museum with rooms filled to t...

our first main tourist stop in florence was the galleria dell'academia .  i made a reservation for entrance at 2:00 on a tuesday.   jason laughed at me for making reservations here and at the uffizi.  soon, he understood why.  we walked passed the museum earlier in the day to pick up our tickets and the lines wrapped around the block.  It costs an extra 4 EUR to reserve a time slot.  I would highly recommend it for the academy and the uffizi.  it saved us quite a bit of time and anxiety of staring a long line in the face! this museum gets right down to business.  in the second room, michaelangelo's   slaves  greet you.  the four unfinished statues lead you to the main exhibit, david .   this is the original sculpture, which the bronze sculpture in the piazzale michaelangelo  and the replica in the palazzo vecchio outside of the uffizi. jason and i also headed up stairs to check out the artifa...

one of our last tourist stops in florence was the basilica of santa croce .   the church is quite gorgeous.  the frescos are beautiful and of course, the funeral monuments!   santa croce is the italian version of the british westminster.  it has all of the famous italian celebrities .  and by celebrity, we are talking about leonardo da vinci, michelangelo, galileo, dante, ferme and more.  any names that you recognize? the church also has a leather school attached.  it was developed after world war II as a way to train orphans on a skill.  it is hand-crafted custom leather.  it is a stop for many of the rich and famous.  the leather was like butter, very expensive butter like $1000 coat of butter. the museum associated with the museum was pretty interesting as well.  it contained many of the damaged items from the flood and showed the restoration process.   time in church: 45 minutes times visited: 1 overall: A-

one of our last tourist stops in florence was the basilica of santa croce .   the church is quite gorgeous.  the frescos are beautiful and of course, the funeral monuments!   santa croce is the italian version of the british westminster.  it has all of the famous italian celebrities .  and by celebrity, we are talking about leonardo da vinci, michelangelo, galileo, dante, ferme and more.  any names that you recognize? the church also has a leather school attached.  it was developed after world war II as a way to train orphans on a skill.  it is hand-crafted custom leather.  it is a stop for many of the rich and famous.  the leather was like butter, very expensive butter like $1000 coat of butter. the museum associated with the museum was pretty interesting as well.  it contained many of the damaged items from the flood and showed the restoration process.   time in church: 45 minutes times visited: 1 overall: A-