Christmas in Tuscany, Part 2

The lion is the symbol of Florence. I loved all the
beautiful lion statues, so I'm going to post some of them.

[It is now mid-January but I am determined to blog about this trip! I'll get it finished one of these days. Here's the next installment.]

Christmas Eve was Uffizi day! No one but me was terribly excited about it, but I felt pretty confident that everyone would enjoy it once we got there. I had read a couple of children's books about Renaissance art and really thought the kids might be interested in comparing some of the techniques and characteristics of Renaissance art to the prior style of the middle ages. Our hotel had a great collection of guide books that guests could borrow (what a great idea, I had never seen that before), and I found a Rick Steves book called Mona Winks: Self-Guided Tours of Europe's Top Museums. The tour of the Uffizi in the book was perfect for our needs; it boiled the museum down to some easy to understand themes, gave us specific pictures to look at, and took us on a path that ensured we saw a good chunk of the museum and the most important pieces. Moreover, unlike the gigantic Louvre the Uffizi is relatively small and manageable. We thought one museum was enough so we chose not to visit the Accademia, with its Michelangelo statues, on this trip.

Can you believe the size of this line? We must have waited at
 LEAST a minute.

The Uffizi is known for its entrance lines - often 3 or more hours long - but on Christmas Eve we walked right in! I was carrying Mona Winks and while the book was a little outdated and some of the art had been moved, for the most part we followed the path and got some really interesting commentary on the art we saw. The kids probably wouldn't admit it but I think everyone was interested, learned some things, and saw art that was sometimes beautiful, sometimes gross, and sometimes funny.

Christ's blood literally pours out and is caught
by angels

We thought this medieval baby Jesus looked a
little like Chucky and were freaked out
that he appears to be holding a dead bird.

There is a gorgeous view of Ponto Vecchio from the gallery. The red tiled
roof covers a passageway that was the Medicis' private walkway between
home (Palazzo Pitti) and work (Palazzo Vecchio).

What is up with the scary reptile in between the two kneeling figures???

This beautiful Madonna and Child with Two Angels
by Filippo Lippi was held up as a prime example of Renaissance
art because of the three-dimensionality and real human qualities
of the figures and the landscape in the background.
Mary doesn't need the artist to paint a medieval golden halo over
her head to let us know she's holy. As Rick Steves says, "She
radiates sweetness and light from her divine face."
 

We had a good laugh over the translation in this sign; we
practiced introducing a bottle: "Carter, meet my Coke
bottle." Coke bottle: "Nice to meet you, Carter."
Museum guard: "Out! Out! You are not allowed to
introduce bottles in the gallery!!"

You wouldn't want to do a chest bump with this guy!

Leonardo da Vinci's Annunciation

Reading from the guidebook in front of Botticelli's Birth of Venus

After the Uffizi we told the kids they could take a break. They went back to the hotel room and enjoyed themselves reading and playing computer games while Dan and I went out to see some more of Florence. Hooray for the kids being old enough to do this!!! I went first to the Mercato Centrale, the big central market, to look around and possibly buy some snacks because we were worried that we might not find anyplace open to eat on Christmas Day. I bought some pears that ended up being delicious, but mostly just wandered around looking at all the stalls selling vegetables, fish, meat, cheese, pasta, etc.

A moment alone on the steps to the top of the Campanile

After I left the market I climbed the 414 steps to the top of the Campanile, the bell tower next to the Duomo and waited at the top for sunset. There weren't too many other people which was a very good thing, because the stairway is circular and narrow and there is a part at the top where the people coming up and down have to use the same staircase. Since my ticket was also valid for a climb to the top of Brunelleschi's Dome on the top of the cathedral, I descended from the bell tower and then went right back up the 463 steps to the top of the dome. It was a good workout! I found Dan up there and we came down together and went to the Baptistery, inside which are mosaics and artwork galore.

View of the Duomo from the top of the Campanile

Judgement Day depicted in the Baptistery: the Devil eats the damned

It was time to rejoin the kids and head out for Christmas Eve dinner. I had a reservation at another recommended restaurant, Trattoria al Trebbio. We enjoyed a nice, festive but casual meal and went back to the hotel to get ready for Santa.

Christmas Eve dinner

The next morning we awoke to excitement in the air. The kids came to our room to wake us up at the appointed "no earlier than" hour. The stockings had been laid in the hallway with care the night before, and packages were now sticking out of them. We carried them to the kids' room, where the tree was, and emptied them. I think Carter and Haley were somehow expecting a big pile of presents from Santa and they were a bit disappointed that, besides filling their stockings, all he left them was a note saying that some presents had been delivered in Berlin. But they hid it well, or got over it quickly. We opened the few presents we had brought for each other and put under the tree, and these generated enough excitement to make it a successful morning of gifts. 

Stockings on the ledge in the hallway outside our 2
hotel rooms, which were right next to each other. There was
only one other guest at the B&B and they were completely
on the other side of the building, so we had this space to
ourselves.

Carter digs into the new Rick Riordan book he
asked for

A hotel room Christmas

 

Merry Christmas!

After Christmas morning room service breakfast, we dressed up for church. Dan wanted to go to the service at the Florence Cathedral, sung in Italian Gregorian chant. I chose to go instead to an English speaking church service so I could sing Christmas carols, my favorite part of Christmas morning, and the kids went with me. 

After church we grabbed a quick bite to eat from one of the sandwich shops open on Christmas day and strolled around town. It was actually more crowded Christmas day than the previous days and there were lots of shops open. We walked across town to Michelangelo Point, a broad terrace with views over the city, designed by Guiseppe Poggi in 1869. We enjoyed the stroll and the view, took some pictures, sat in the sun, relished Christmas Day in Florence with nothing pressing to do and nowhere else to be.

Posing at Michelangelo Point

On the way back to our room we decided to stop for gelato. One store we passed had a line of people out the door so we figured it had to be good. We stood in line for maybe 45 minutes but were rewarded with what we all agreed was the best gelato we had ever had. It was creamy and flavorful and excellent in every way. If you find yourself in Florence you absolutely must visit Gelateria Edoardo! The cinnamon gelato was to die for.

We spent the evening relaxing and packing our bags to head to southern Tuscany in the morning.