Florence 3

Well, this afternoon I referred to our evening plans as “wandering” … little did I know! This warrants a second post.

We were just going to go spend some time in the 4-story bookstore, and maybe see if we could get in to the baptistery beside the Duomo, so Jeannie had brought her light sweater because all the churches require visitors to be covered. But walking by the Duomo, we thought maybe we could try and see if the line was still long (it’s been wrapping 2 sides of the building all day). There were about 3 people in front of the door, and we got in within a minute! It’s an impressive sight from outside, but the inside is just magnificent. I’ll be posting pictures soon, I hope. We didn’t bother with the Baptistry, which would have paled in comparison.

After the bookstore, we thought we would try our luck and check back again at the Uffizi gallery, which also has had impossibly long lines just for reservations and is known to be booked a month in advance. Less than 5 people in line! We basically walked right in. Vasari, da Vinci, a special display on Caravaggio … we went through relatively quickly, since our visit went right up until they closed, but it’s an amazing gallery. The museum has had paintings there since the time America was colonized!

Taking our time to find a restaurant for dinner that was recommended to us and is off the beaten path was worth it. We had rabbit for the first time! Along with potatoes, spinach risotto, farfalle, and some white wine. Finished the day with gelato J

Feels like our luck may be changing, but … still no luggage.