Trip to Europe - Part 5: The Uffizi Is Really Big

More rain in Florence today, so we spend the day indoors wandering around the Uffizi. No pictures allowed. We walk up to the second level (that's the third level for us Americans - Europeans don't count the ground level),  and even that's a chore. The scale of this place is nuts.

We arrive in a long, wide corridor lined with sculptures, the ceilings all decorated with fancy little paintings. Turn into the first gallery room and you are immediately greeted by Giotto's Madonna and Child, and that is also way bigger that expected. Next to that is a smaller, five-panel piece known as the Polittico. There are other pieces, but the two by Giotto really stand out (below is a linked third party picture).

Then begins the wander: gallery after gallery of Early and High Renaissance alter pieces, portraits, and other panels. We wander, separate, rejoin and continue on. The Botticelli Room is certainly a highlight, as it is by far the largest gallery room except the sculpture corridor: the Venus dominates one wall, and the Primavera another (again, a found picture).

The wandering continues for about three and a half hours before we all tire and make a dash through the last few galleries (sorry Caravaggio fans). In all, we walk just less than three miles.

We end the day back at San Lorenzo, and Brunelleschi. It is a gorgeous cathedral, with a flat coffered ceiling and a wonderful gold dome at the center of the cross plan. We especially enjoy the Old Sacristy (yet another borrowed image below) with the simple, banded main dome - and the unusual dome with constellations above the adjoining alcove. It's a wonderful comparison to the New Sacristy by Michelangelo, and a wonderful way to end our sightseeing.

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