Day 7 & 8 Firenze

I am writing this one day late! Yesterday was lovely like all of our days. We started at the Uffizi -- the largest collection of medieval and renaissance work in the world. Luckily, we purchased a Firenze pass so we could bypass the INCREDIBLY LONG LINES. We listened to the audio tour. I was reminded that all art during this period reflected either biblical stories or greek mythology and most work included some homage to the patron who funded the work or some other secret message.

Some of my favorites:

Birth of Venus

A ceiling. We don't have ceilings like this in the US. It's painted!

These two photos were hung next to each other.. I like the woman-centered nature. 

Since my brain has a 60 minute limit for Madonna and child art, I took a sunny break outside. I drank lovely hot chocolate while gazing at the Palazzo Vecchio. All fun.

On to lunch and then the Accademia, home of the most famous Renaissance statue, The David. I didn't take any photos because it was 1. VERY CROWDED and 2. You have seen The David.

The David never disappoints though. We loved it. There was also an exhibit of Renaissance instruments. Then we walked over to the Baptistry. I am convinced that the Baptistry was under construction when we were here last. I walked by the gates all the time. They tell more biblical stories. I have no memory of the stunning inside of the Baptistry. Before it was an octagonal house of Catholic worship, it was a pagan house of worship. It is simple with Islamic tile floors and glorious gold mosaics on the wall.

Only the center of a large gold ceiling

We weren't done yet. I have a book called Secret Florence. We journeyed on to the Piazza Annunziata. It's the home of an old orphanage and current children's rights organization (that still houses the orphanage). I wanted to see the FoundlingWheel. It was the way that many people of the 15th - 20th centuries abandoned their children.  Parents took their children to the orphanage (which was originally run by a convent). The slipped newborns through the window onto a cushion and rang a bell. The nuns then took the child and the parents are never seen.

We also visited the Orphanage museum which was mostly sadness. 

We were so tired last night, we didn't even go out to dinner. We ate here and went to bed. We woke up early this morning to climb the Duomo, something neither of us did when we were here years ago. We climbed 493 narrow steps through the dome. The top of the dome provides one of the best views in Florence.

Behind us is Giotto's tower, Piazza della Republica and a glimpse of the palace where we went to school years ago.

At the bottom of the church - dome above

We then visited our school's new facilities and chatted with the Dean of students who used to be a Philosophy prof at Seattle U and he also taught in the Florence program when we were there.

We now have a regular Italian restaurant. It is so wonderful that we have been there three times. We have tried many restaurants, many pastas, many gelatos and this place is so great that we've decided just to go there for the rest of our meals. We love that the restaurant is family-owned. The waiters are the son and nephew of the owner. The woman who buses the tables speaks Spanish so I can easily converse with her. I can survive with my Italian but everyone speaks great English so all of my study wasn't really necessary. It is fun to speak Italian though.