Arrivederci, Marcella!

We had a reservation at the Uffizi for early afternoon, but were cautioned to arrive early, because of the lines (even with a reservation). But when we arrived, we walked immediately up to the front, and then were too early (and had to come back later) for our appointed time. We took the opportunity to visit the Ponte Vecchio, the old bridge, during the day. We had spotted a glove shop at the end of the bridge earlier, but it had been closed. Loie and I are both fans of european made leather gloves, so we bought a couple pair and made our way back to the Piazza Signorina to wait for our appointment with the Uffizi.

The gallery is the most amazing we've seen with works by Donatello, Caravaggio, Botticelli, Rubens, Tiziano (or Titian), and Giotto. There is a long impressive gallery with sculptures and portraits of wealthy and important Florentines as well as visitors (including a whole series of Ottomans) from which open various and connected salons with the paintings. Botticelli's Birth of Venus is justifiably amazing, but perhaps even better is its nearby neighbor La Prima Vera. La Tribuna, a perioid-ish (but which?) octagonal-shaped room with red velvet wallpaper was amazing. On every surface not covered with stunning decorative shells were works from seemingly every major era.

The galleries on the first floor presented a special exhibition culled from the major works (this is where we found the missing Caravaggio and some other major works), which would have been better to start with. It helped to explain the stylistically shifts through the ages, as well as displayed some amazing illuminated Renaissance era manuscripts (including Dante's Divine Comedy, St. Augustine's City of God, and some amazing choral books--oversized for reading from afar).

As we left, we took a small detour through the entrance of Palazzo Vecchio, and entered the Piazza Signorina for a bit of lunch. Then Loie went back to the hotel to fortify herself for our big final meal with Marcella, and I snuck away to purchase a parting bouquet for Marcella. There was a small florist shop nearby where I had a nice chat (in Italian!) with a mother and daughter (the elder having been in the business for 50 years), who made a gorgeous bouquet out of the flowers I selected.

This was our final night, a full meal, with guinea fowl pan roasted in pomegranate, vegetable crostini, chick pea soup in a toasted boule of bread, and chestnut crepes filled with cream, ricotta and a touch of star anise. All of it delicious and a beautiful meal on which to end our time with Marcella!