Let's All Feel Bad for Libby Day

Libby endured a lot today. Two museums (The Accademia and Uffizi) broken up by a bite to eat, and a hike up the top of Brunelleschi's dome.

Today was an early 6am one because we wanted to get to The Accademia as it opened to beat the crowds. Yeah--right. We probably beat a good amount of crowds we would have seen later in the day, but there were probably a few hundred people outside wanting to get in. We bought a Firenzi card which was expensive but allows us to skip lines for a number of places, so that came in handy.

The Accademia is primarily known for housing Michelangelo's "Prisoners" and David. There are some medieval pantings that are always there, but there was an exhibit of musical instruments where there were some interesting instruments including some Stradavarians from the late 17th century, a weird wind instrument that was bent at an angle, the first stand-up piano, and a few other piano-like instruments.

Said to be the first upright piano

We left "The Prisoners" and David for last. I'm glad we did. Michelangelo didn't name what are now referred to as "The Prisoners," but that is what scholars dubbed them.  They are unfinished marble statues that, in their current state, seem to be attempting to pull themselves from the existing rough marble they were hewn from. It's really awesome to imagine that Michelangelo left them as is on purpose. He didn't work the same way his contemporaries did where they would mark the stone before staring on it. He worked on the stone freestyle from front to back. They are a great prologue to David. Michelangelo's David is a fourteen foot tall marble masterpiece. Stupid, lazy expression aside, words can't describe David. Saying it's amazing doesn't do it justice. It's awe inspiring and eye opening. I've I try to do something approaching justice I'll be here too long and still fail and Libby will be annoyed so I'll leave it at that.

We grabbed a bite to eat in the Duomo Piazza within eyesight of the door to the entrance for the Cupola climb. (See what I did there?) Libby was apprehensive about the 467 steps, since it's been a while since we've climbed a tower but it was fine. Part of the architectural achievement of the dome is the double-wall method that is important to achieving the structure itself, and you actually get to climb up between the walls. You have to hunch over to the right at times, and climb up steps at a steep and obviously rounded angle. The climb is well worth it. Nearly all the way up you get to walk on the inside of the dome and get a great view of the fresco. Finally you reach the top and get the best view of Florence in the city. The view is stunning. The duomo is in the center of city so you can see every bit of Florence, the Arno River, and into the surrounding Tuscan hills.

Going up

See the building with the green roof? The Air B&B we rented is overlooking the square on the right hand side of that building. It's about a 5 minute walk from the apartment to the Duomo

Down we climbed and headed to the Uffizi Gallery. The Uffizi is a giant C-shaped building near the Palazzo Vecchio. They make you hike up to the second floor first, and are faced with a hall way that stretches the length of the building with sculptures, and painted ceilings with adjacent rooms full of artwork. Libby's time in the Uffizi felt like a literal eternity. :-)

We went home and sat for a few minutes then headed downstairs for some food. Libby had  spaghetti carbonara and I had....rabbit. Yup. I saw it on the menu and wanted to try it. Yesterday I had wide spaghetti and wild boar, and liked that so I rolled the dice again. It was described in the menu as cutlets with Tuscan herbs. It seemed like a meatloaf with herbs. It came with sauted spinach, and I got a side of rosemary potatoes in case I didn't like it....or at least didn't like the spinach. Turns out I liked the rabbit. It didn't taste "gamey," but I think the herbs had something to do with that. I did run across a small bone I'm sure glad I caught. Anyway, the spinach was ok. The flavor was good but it was cooked in oil and was pretty soggy. Not the best texture in my opinion. After a doppio espresso for me and single espresso for Libby we came home.

Tomorrow we are off to Orvieto where we will side-trip to Civita de Bagnoregio.