Pitti Palace

This morning began very leisurely as we all had a chance to sleep in. When we finally got ourselves together, we walked over to the Pitti Palace, which houses all sorts of museums. We were most interested in their art collection, or the Palatine Galleries.

When we walked into the gallery we were stunned by an incredible chandelier! I suppose that was to give us a small taste of the opulence of the palace itself. Every room is lined with Renaissance paintings and all the ceilings are painted with various motifs. Among the pieces we got to see were another Caravaggio, Visari, and a Reubens. The rooms were a bit of a labyrinth with offshoots here and there. Evan and I wandered off on our own for a bit, but then decided to stay put so Brad could find us!

After the Palatine Galleries, we toured the apartments. They once housed some of the Medici family and then were inhabited by the Grand Duchess. We got to see the furniture and other decorative items from the bedroom and ballroom. In addition, we saw a bathroom that was designed for a visit from Napoleon. Lastly, we did a quick tour of the modern art collection. Brad was hoping to see work by an Italian "futurist" but 10 of the rooms were closed - that's Italy for you! We did, however, get to go down the huge staircase they refinished 10 years ago so that was a bonus!

It was now past 2 and we needed lunch, so we walked a few blocks to SandwiChic. This place came highly recommended, and it deserves its accolades. The whole place is about the size of a walk in closet. You order at the counter (they have so many sandwiches to choose from) and then we ended up sitting on stools tucked into a corner. Once you had a bite, you didn't mind being totally squished and hot though - they were delicious! I had one with capocolla, smoked buffalo mozzarella and artichoke spread; Brad and Evan got sbriciolona (like a salami), pepper jam, and cheese.

Completely stuffed, we spent the rest of the afternoon shopping. They have several high end streets with big designer names (Chanel, Gucci, Prada) so only window shopping happened there! Brad bought a cool new watch with an eye in the centre, but then we had to endure Evan making a lot of eye puns afterwards!

We returned to our apartment to cool down and so I could finish the laundry. Later we will head out for our final meal in Firenze!Read more