After spending some time in Lucca, it was time to move again. The final station of this trip is Florence. I have been to Florence once, back in 2014, and it was a city containing plenty of things to do. I wanted to go back, as back then I felt like I didn't even scratch the veneer of its surface. Heck, I didn't even manage to visit the Uffizi back then! So when I came back 7 years later, the Uffizi was the first thing I wanted to check out. After arriving at the train station, I dropped off my bag in my hotel, and from there I directly headed to this famous gallery.
Fortunately, there were no crowds. The Uffizi is one of the most visited art museums in the world, and perhaps it was good timing in the sense that given Covid, the city still didn't have the plethora of visitors it typically has. So, the queue to procure a ticket was very short, and I was shortly let inside the building that same afternoon.
One starts one's tour of the Uffizi by heading up all the way to the top-most floor of the building. There are two corridors, and one begins with the first corridor, which has the galleries positioned in rooms stemming from this corridor. The first thing that I immediately noticed was the intricate ceiling, shown in detail above.
The galleries contain excellent tokens of Renaissance art. This is not my most favourite art period, but nevertheless, it was quite a great experience to see originals of famous paintings that until now I have only seen in encyclopedias, for example, Botticelli's
The Birth of Venus, seen above.
As I strolled along, I found a very elegantly designed and decorated room, the Tribuna. This small octagonal-shaped room is a treasure trove, created in 1581-1586 by the Medici clan. Visitors nowadays cannot enter this room, but only gaze from the doorway. That was where I have taken the three pictures above.
At some point, I reached the end of the first corridor, and saw the wide windows that overlook the Arno.
There were plenty of marble pieces, especially in the second corridor.
I also visited the Niobe Room, built to house statues of Niobe and her children.
Overall I spent about three hours in the Uffizi. And then at some point art fatigue kicked in. But in any case, the trick here is to not try to see everything, but just see the few important pieces that are scattered in the various rooms. Although I have to say, there are plenty of them.
After three hours, I slowly made my way out, and headed to the Arno to talk a stroll along its bank.
