So for our second day in florence we did a lot more standing than we did the day before. We met up with lauren at the entrance to go up to the duomo done at 0815 and didn’t have to wait at all to go up (the benefit of being one of the first 25 in line). So we climbed the 460+ steps, there were a few stopping points along the way (thankfully, pretty sure I would’ve made it all the way up in one shot), walked around both balconies that go around the interior of the dome were treated to some very narrow, steep and windy staircases, and when we reachef the cupola we were rewarded with a gorgeous panoramic view of the city. After trekking back down we grabbed some breakfast (apricot pastry/cookie and cappuchino for me) and decided to face the line for getting in to the Uffizi gallery. After a two hour stint waiting in line we made it in around 1230 and explored the museum until around 1500. We got to see Bottocelli’s Birth of Venus and lots and lots of other amazing Rennaisance paintings including an unfinished painting by da Vinci which was cool to see one of the paintings “in progress” and get a better idea how one of those huge wall-sized paintings is created. Afterwards we grabbed a quick gelato (had apricot this time, yum!) and Lauren had to head out for her flight, so we said our goodbyes and Jeremy and I headed back to the hotel to rest our feet (didn’t really think about the fact that all the sidewalks and most of the roads we are walking on are stone, or marble floors when we’re inside) and rest before finding somewhere to have a nice dinner. So now we are off to get a recommendation from the girl at the front desk and get some tasty food.
(2320)
Back from dinner, we wandered around in a quest to fund a less touristy place to eat since the girl at the front desk was already gone for the evening. We ended up east of the duomo a few blocks at a little place called Trattoria Pallatino. I had stuffed fried zuchinni flowers (stuffed with some kind of mild white cheese and sardines, definitely different but tasty) and jeremy had linguini with pesto and we split a half liter of the house red (very mild and smooth).
Tomorrow we’re going to mostly play things by ear, not set an alarm and just wander to anywhere that seems interesting. Our train to Paris leaves around 2045 tomorrow night so we will have most of the day to wander.