We did a lot of packing last night, since we weren't going to have much time this morning. We had tickets to see The Last Supper at 10:15, but since Malorie and Siraj didn't join us in Milan, we went to Cenacolo Vinciano around 9, to see if we could bring Katie in with us. Apparently, babies over 2 years old count as a breathing head, and there's a limit to how many breathing heads are allowed in at any given point. Only 30 people are allowed at a time, only for a 15 minute viewing period. Too many people breathing at once will I guess raise the humidity levels or something (the painting is actually very fragile, and a very extensive restoration has just been completed, so they aren't taking any chances). After the ticket lady made a call over to the people in charge, they said it was okay (phew!). If anyone reading this wants to go see The Last Supper at some point in your life, BUY THE TICKETS WAY IN ADVANCE. I mean WAY. Melissa called at least a month or two ahead of time, and when she finally got someone who spoke english, they were almost sold out already. It was super lucky that we even got to go in. I'm not sure exactly what I was expecting, but it was both better and less impressive than I thought. I had no idea it was as large as it is, but I think since it's so famous I was expecting more detail or something. But for 500 years old, it's looking pretty dang nice (again, it's very fragile since da Vinci didn't use typical fresco techniques). I actually preferred seeing it from further away, as one could imagine it being an extension of the room and they are all along side of one's group. On the opposite wall there was an actual fresco from the same time, and it was much more vibrant, although done with a much less skilled hand.
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| Other side of the room. Never heard of this one. |
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| Long distance |
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| Kids running around the square chasing pigeons. Again. |
After our viewing we didn't have much time to waste. We had to get back to Aldo's, grab our stuff and head to the train station to make our way to Florence. We got to our first metro connection, however, when I realized I hadn't left the cash for our added first night. So I left the family and rushed back to the apartment, left the cash on the table, and hurried back. We got our metro connection, caught our train, and arrived at Firenze SMN station at 2:10pm. We had set up our check-in with Gaetano for 2:30 so we just went straight to our new apartment, about 20 minutes walk away (well 20 minutes for an adult, but the kids hustled).
We got some gelato after the check in, on our way to get some Firenze cards. These cards cost about 72 Euros apiece, and although it's not a savings for your admission costs, the real bargain is you can enter from the preferred entries and skip all the lines. Since we only have 2 nights in Florence, this was the real reason we got the passes. We went to the info office, but it closed already. At 1pm. Which makes a whole lot of sense, right? There was another young couple there trying to figure out where to get the passes as well, so we eight headed off to the next place listed. But this place didn't sell directly, you could only pick them up if you pre-bought them. So we just connected to the website and bought them online. Only then did they give us the passes. Which makes a whole lot of sense.
We told the couple to enjoy their time in the city and headed out with purpose. It was already 4pm or so, and we wanted to visit the Galleria del'Accademia. We arrived to the sight of a long line, but walked right past them and into the preferred entry. We were through security and inside in about 2 minutes, maybe less. The firenze cards were already paying for themselves. We headed directly to Michelangelo's David despite the massive sculpture being surrounded by loads of tourists. This sculpture was grand in scale and even grander in it's awe-inspiring presence. The feeling that I was standing in the presence of a masterpiece was tangible. The next gallery was my favorite in regards to the entirety of the room - it was filled with dozens of plaster models in preparation of the finished marble pieces. There was iconography, there were musical instruments, there were tapestries. The final room we visited Giambologna's Rape of the Sabine Women, which I recognized but did not remember the artist. We finished our stroll through the museum in about 1:30 or so, and we all felt that it seemed quick but we took enough time studying the artwork.
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| David was Lily's favorite piece of art. She keeps talking about it. Especially a certain part of it. |
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| First homemade meal in a while. Delish! |
After the museum we headed back to the apartment (close by) and I stayed back while Melissa went grocery- (and a little window-) shopping. We cooked a fabulous pasta and broccoli dinner, which everyone loved and ate it all. Even I ate the broccoli!
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