LomoTravels: Relishing Florence Day 2 / Museum Musings

Florence is well known for its collection of sculptures and paintings which are proudly displayed in museums across the city. But apart from its assortment of art works nourished with years of history, there are also artifacts of the less artsy kind to be admired in the Museo Galileo.

Rather than being a shrine dedicated to the life and times of Galileo Galilei, the museum housed a huge collection of scientific instruments and inventions from the good ol’ days of the 15th to 19th century. A very educational tour that will no doubt invoke tonnes of challenging whys and hows that parents will find hard to answer.

Suffice to say, the amount of information to digest left my holiday brains in a state of paralysis. Can’t say I’ll do any better with my normal day to day brain. Doubt there will be many left wearing t-shirts with “Nerd” or “Geek” emblazoned across their chests if they were made to tour the museum before they could gain the right to don them.

Time to recharge with a quick lunch at one of the top rated eateries on TripAdvisor, All’Antico Vinaio. Similar in concept to the sandwich joint we visited yesterday, it was located along one of those cosy alleys serving up cheap tasty sandwiches and glasses of wine.

Ordering was a challenge though as there was no fixed menu and the chefs were not fluent in English. Due to the store’s popularity, the queues were a huge clump of people squished against the counter. Ordering methods varied as there were customers who carefully questioned the identity of the various ingredients before making a decision or those that pointed randomly at the ingredients. I went for the “anything with truffle” option.

#1 Fly Florence Fly | LC-A+ RL | Lucky 200 | BUY IT!
Whilst waiting in line…

#2 Sandwich’d | Note 2
Finally our chance to sink our teeth into the alluring sandwiches. Though satisfying, I found the bread slightly too hard. Personally, I preferred the sandwiches from I Fratellini.

Up for our 2pm appointment into the Uffizi which housed famous works by grandmasters such as Botticelli, Leonardo Da Vinci and Raphael. We had to queue to collect our pre-booked tickets after which we had to join another queue for entry into the museum. In summary, queues, queues and more queues.

Instead of snapping away at the exhibits, we chose to just admire and listen attentively to the audio guide as we wander through the busy galleries. Unsurprisingly, we ended with only a single photo in the Uffizi.
#3 M for Medieval | Note 2
Tada! And of course we took it because of the portrait’s striking resemblance to M. Zuckerberg.

As mental and physical fatigue started to set in, we tapped out of the Uffizi and set off for our next destination – Piazzale Michelangelo. It is a square where one can enjoy a panoramic view of Florence. Tired yet continue to walk and climb our way up to Piazzale Michelangelo. Some logic eh.

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A view of the peaceful Arno river to make the walk worth our while.

#5 Dave | LC-A+ RL | Lucky 200
A much easier walk than I’ve expected and we found ourselves perched on the square accessorized with a copy of the statue of David.

With quite some time to spare, we hung around like every other tourists there, waiting for the sun to set and darkness to set in.

#6 Lights, Action and Camera | LC-A+ RL | Lucky 200
All for the night lights of Florence.

When all is said and done, it’s time to return to base for dinner.

#8 Glow | LC-A+ RL | Lucky 200
But not before treating ourselves to a different side of the Arno river.

Downed a fufilling dinner at Trattoria Anita which was literally a stone’s throw away from our hotel. Next up, Tuscany tour!