AlphabeThursday - F is for Florence

Our day trip to Florence was great - I could have spent a week there!  The Uffizi Gallery was breathtaking; the building held so many beautiful 15th century pieces of art!  I wasn't all that interested in the portraits hanging in the major hallways, so I spent most of my time in the individual "Gallery" rooms.

Birth of the Paper Goddess

There were four good-sized rooms for just Botticelli's art.  I started to cry a few times looking at his work - it's so beautiful.  "Birth of Venus" has to be a favorite of mine.  It was painted around 1485 for Giovanni and Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de' Medici and has been at the Uffizi since 1815.

If you're in Italy, you shouldn't miss going to the Uffizi.  We didn't call ahead for tickets, but it wasn't too bad; we only stood in line for about an hour.  I tried to stay away from the masses as best as I could, moving around each rooms several times to get good views.  This was one time I enjoyed just looking at the art; I knew I wouldn't remember all the history that went with it.

There were loads of people around the museums and in the piazza, so we took a walk and tried to get away from the crowds in the late afternoon.  We found a neighborhood park and this merry-go-round.  Isn't it cute?  

Here's my journal entry from that day:

Friday, May 25 - Florence

We set out early to Florence which is about 1½ hours north from the house.  Drove to the outskirts of Florence and parked, then took a tram into the city.  When we got to the Uffizi we queued (stood in line) for about an hour.  Then walked around the galleries for a few hours.  We all went and had a very nice lunch, then had dessert at the best gelato shop in Italy, or so it was said.  On the way to lunch I saw the paper store I wanted to visit, Il Papiro.  I went there after we ate and bought a sheet of marbled paper, an eraser and some ink.  Mitch and Nicki went to the Academia and the rest of us walked around the Duomo Piazzo and window shopped.  I found a second franchise of Il Papiro and got another sheet of paper. 

Handwrapped Florentine Marbled Paper Beads

Thinking back, I  should have bought more than two sheets of paper in Florence, but didn't want to seem overindulgent!  I think if I was by myself, I would have spent much more time in the stores and picked out more sheets!  I've hand rolled some of my marbled paper - they're in my Etsy shop now.  

Don't forget to come by and visit other AlphabeThursday posts in Ms. Jenny's class, ...off on my tangent...