We got up at the crack of dawn to catch our first train. Luckily, first class on a high speed train is nice – big seats, lots of space, juice, breakfast pastry, hand wipes and chocolates. I knew I’d miss it once we hit second class slow trains, but it was lovely to enjoy. in the mean time, caroline and i ended up saving all the little things, which later became our "emergency food" and a rather intense collection of "frecciarosas"- handwipes.
It was so cold when we got there, and we headed straight for the Uffizi – Florence’s famous art museum. Caroline and I picked up some breakfast snackies, and we traded off turns standing in line and wandering around. After 3 hours in line, we got in. Paintings of note: Botticelli’s Spring and the Birth of Venus, a Michelangelo, a da Vinci, and a small collection of titians (although there were no red heads in it!). I especially enjoyed the chiaroscuro paintings – full of soft focus with dark backgrounds and emphasis on the conveying beauty through emotion.
After dinner, we met up with one of my mom’s college friends, who married and Italian and lives in Sienna, nearby to Florence. She introduced us to the leather market and to Italian hot chocolate. The market was fun to browse through. Hot chocolate in Italy is also amazing and unique – its thick and flavorful, almost like pudding.
picture: me and my mom, right in front of a famous bridge in florence (there's a great story about a rich guy, some butchers and some goldsmiths)
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