Peter, Dorothy, Kate and I went to the Uffizi. Before I left the states I downloaded Rick Steves' free audiotours of all the major sights in Florence and Rome onto my iPod. I let the gang go ahead while I did the audiotour. It was nice to move along at my own pace. The Botticelli's were my favorites. I was especially fond of the Birth of Venus and Primavera. Another wonderful piece was Michelangelo's Doni Tondo. The Holy Family is so real-human if you will. And check out St. John the Baptist in the background on the right. Magnificent.
The museum's gift shop was spectacular. Great jewelry, cards, books and gifts. I picked our Christmas tree here. You will see it in a later post.
I met back up with Peter, Dorothy, and Kate. We caught a cab to the Basilica di Maria Santa Novella. It was a beautiful old church. It had a priceless display of creches from all over the world.
At this point, I took the opportunity to venture on my own. I walked and took some time to recharge. I adore my family but need a break now and again.
I made it back to the hotel and met up with everyone again. We took off for the Mercato Centrale. This is about 7 times larger than the Mercato Nuovo. Stalls and stalls of leather coats, purses, and gloves, scarves, ties, souvenirs. Mom was on the hunt for tassles, gimp and fringe. No luck.
We strolled back down past the Duomo to one of the leather stores to check out a leather coat my mom had her eye on. I picked up some assorted olive oils and balsamic syrup for gifts.
For dinner we all met at Buca del Orafo. This was my favorite dinner spot from 1995 when Mom took me to Italy before. It is right off the Ponte Vecchio and below street level. The highlights were the carciofi frito (fried baby artichokes sprinkled with parmesan and fresh squeezed lemon) and Kate's roasted beef with cannellini beans.
Just when you think it can't get any better--a warm waffle spread with Nutella. It wasn't just an ordinary waffle. It had little pockets of something sweet in it like marshmellow. Good stuff.
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