Shiho and I had an early start to see as much of Florence as possible. We started the day with walking to piazza del duomo and admiring the outside (as it was Sunday you couldnt go in until the afternoon). We then walked to Piazza della signoria where a number of statues live, including a copy of Michealango's David (hes so much larger in real life). This also next to the Galleria degli Uffizi (which houses a heap of priceless and immediately recognisable artworks including works by botticelli - Venus rising from the waves). The line was ridiculous. So instead we walked over ponte vecchio bridge (home to countless goldsmiths and jewellers-it must be the sparkliest bridge ever) and visited palazzo pitta palace (which had a costume gallery and the boboli gardens). The gardens are amazing. They extend out in all directions, have walkways, fountains and gates.
After a fortifying lunch we wandered back over the bridge and decided to tackle the Uffizi lines headone-by cheating and buying a skip the line ticket. Sometimes an extra €4 is worth it. This gave us an admission time which meant we could join the short queue at this time. As we had some time to spare we then visited cappella di benozzo gozzoli-a lavish home. Seriously-they have like a Sistine chapel thing going on in one of the upstairs room (but better as we were the only ones around, we could take photos and there was no one yelling at us to be quiet). Fantastic and a beautiful work of art.
Our visit to Uffizi took us till about 5.00pm. At this point the amount we had walked was causing pain so we went back to our respective accommodations for a break and agreed to meet for dinner at 8.00.
There was a bit if wandering before we decided on a place for dinner (as I had my heart set on gnocci). As I couldnt find what I wanted we tried another place. It was amazing and has made the top five meals of my life (it is competeing with a sashimi restaurant night in Tokyo for the best meal of the trip-undecided as its like apples and oranges). Main course-spinach&ricotta ravioli and occo busso (ox shanks in a tomato type sauce that falls off the bone) plus salad of rocket, walnut and pecorino. A bottle of Chianti and dessert. Tiramisu (which was really good) and panna cotta. I have ordered panna cotta before and been disappointed each time. In fact, it got to a point where I dont know why restaurants insisted on bothering to put it on the menu (as it always turned out watery and flavourous). Now I know. When its done right, it is an incredible dessert. Light, slightly sweet without being sickly, milky, velvety smooth. Absolute bliss.
*~*