Art and Food

Today has been the hottest one yet in Florence and the first one where I've gotten so tired that we've come back to the room earlier than usual. Our entry into the Uffizi was a bright and early 10:15 - and already the piazza and the museum entrances were packed with tourists. Above all, the worst thing about the city are the tour groups. They travel like packs of wolves and come in all shapes, sizes and languages. Behind their leaders, they walk like zombies through the city and museums - headsets in their ears and following the person holding the numbered stick. They cut you off and you have to weave around them lest they swallow you into their group. This morning was no exception. Despite our tickets, we let the passing train of people pass us by before we attempted to go inside.

Once again, facing Rosemarie - there they were..the stairs. Lots of them that led to the first level of the gallery. Gripping the handrail she made her way to the top and we started our audio tour. Now, I'm a big fan of recorded tours so I was a bit disappointed at the quality of the one for the gallery. Not only was it confusing, but it was also difficult to find the corresponding numbers in the rooms to press. Once we did, the descriptions were minimal and at the end of each section, all that was missing was the voice to say, "Now get the hell out of this room."

Many of the paintings the faceless voice directed you to were being restored, so we'd search in vain for this or that religious representation only to face a tiny photocopy on the railing where the picture hung. Of course, the prize of the gallery to me is Botticelli's Birth of Venus. Behind glass, the painting takes up nearly the entire wall of one of the rooms. It's stunning in its beauty and colors. My mother had never seen the picture before but was immediatly enraptured by it.

From room to room, it was clear that the rich of centuries past had huge egos. Without fail, the patons were depicted in the masterpieces as part of the saints. It was a "Where's Waldo" game of the Medici family.

Over two hours later, we were once again famished. I don't know how we get so hungry, but the only solution is to eat yet again. Pizza is the food of choice for lunch and today we surpassed yesterday's meal. We'd passed a Pizzeria several times during our stay and I made a direct route to it today.

I think an entire bottle of olive oil must have been poured over the pie. Sopping with it, the pizza was a gift from God as was the massive calzone that my mother had in front of her. Now, Rosemarie has a tendency to offer you her food saying she can't eat it all - this is a lie.

As we ate, the more I pressed down on the pizza, the more oil was released and I sopped up every last drop.

Oil is my new lover.

Next to us during lunch were a father and son from Sacramento, making them the third pair of Californians that we've met so far.  Of course, what comes after pizza but gelato. Years ago, I'd gone to a place called Vivoli and thinking I could find it again, we set off. The sun was out in full force and several bottles of water later, we wandered into a cute ice cream store, giving up on trying to find the other. It was a fortuitous stop as this creamy concoction surpassed all that we had up til now. Sitting at the covered seating area, we devoured yet more high fat content ice cream. Of course - what did we find as we walked back? Vivoli. And what did I do? Yes, I got another cup of fat. Strangely, either it was the chocolate flavor or my heart was still at our last stop or it could be I was just too full, but this gelato was the lowest on the cream scale to date.

Continuing on, we decided to make our way to the train station so we were sure of where to go tomorrow for our day trip to Rome. We are meeting my high school friend Cinza and this morning, when we chatted, it was if we were still 17 years old. I couldn't believe what it was like to hear her voice again. Tomorrow is going to be an incredible memory.

Walking to the station, you're faced with cars zipping by you and we had to stick to the sidewalks or be run over by crazy Italians. The best part is watching the drivers swear in their native tongue and gesturing out the window. It's classic Italy. It's an easy 25 minute walk, so we'll have no trouble in the morning.

The heat was intense so we stopped into Santa Maria Novella. What is about the Catholics? Is a chuch of this size really necessary? Of course, there was an admittance fee.

"Is she over 65?" the ticket taker asked.

"Oh, you bet," I replied as my mother's ticket was free of charge as a result.

Stained glass, alters, crypts. You name it, it's inside this church. We lit a candle of course, because that's what we do and sat for awhile to escape the outside sun. At last, we headed back, mailed some postcards and dragging our weary selves back to our room, I have fallen asleep five times trying to write this entry. Rosemarie just woke up and said, "I think we should take a nap."

I think we should because it will almost be time to eat again.