Like every morning, not up-and-at-‘em as early as we wanted… felt so good to sleep in.   Headed to Florence again for Day 2.   After parking in our Garage of Shame, we walked to a local market for some picnic supplies, then made our way to Boboli Gardens, again (remember, we showed up after closing time yesterday), for a fun lunch.  It was a blisteringly hot walk up to the perfect picnic spot, and we were all thankful to gather in the shade.   The Boboli Gardens belonged to the Medici family during the Renaissance, and were only available and open to the Royal family.   They are HUGE!  They are built up on a hill overlooking Florence – this had never been done before.   There was no water supply up that high, so they had to build an elaborate system to pipe water up from the Arno River.  Gorgeous statues, fountains, mazey walks through manicured hedges and beautiful overlooks.   We played a mean game of “Boboli Ball” with our best purchase on the trip so far:  in Rome we bought a very brightly striped, cheap play ball.   He has become our “Wilson” – our constant companion.   He has provided hours of entertainment for us all.

For the first time in 10 days, a breeze began to blow.  The sky darkened, thunder began to roll, and……rain!!!   Isolated, but rain!   Standing at the high point in the gardens we could see the isolated pockets of rain moving across Florence.  Very cool!  It held off long enough for us to finish our time in the gardens and begin our trek across town to the Galleria dell’Accademia for our timed entrance to see the David.  Soon, it really started coming down and we were caught in a proper downpour – our new raincoats safely tucked away in our suitcases in the villa.   Where did all these umbrella salesmen come from and where did all the toy peddlers go??  By the time we got to the museum, we had fended off 172 umbrella salesmen and were totally drenched.   Luckily, we had bought tickets ahead of time and didn’t have to wait in the 1 ½ hr. line to get in.

So much to see!   First stop: the instrument museum with pianos and harpsichords dating from the 1500’s,  Stradivarius violins, cellos and violas from the early 1600’s, flutes and crazy serpent horns made out of wood and leather.   Wow.

On to David.  Michelangelo was only 26 years old when he began in 1501, and it took him two years to complete.  The kids were appropriately struck by the lifelike detail of his muscles, the veins in his arms and hands.  We stood in awe and wondered about the tools Michelangelo used and what life was like for him while he worked on it.

We also enjoyed the rest of the Galleria dell’Accademia.  Wonderful paintings and an amazing 14^th century, 12-foot long altar cloth, embroidered with gold and silk thread, depicting all the apostles and Mary at Pentecost.  It was stunning.  SOLID embroidery.  Ellis LOVED it – he really did.

The rain had passed by the time we spilled back out onto the street, and we were craving Yellow Bar.  But the Italians don’t let you eat dinner before 6:30!  So we sat on some church steps and people-watched until the appointed opening hour for the restaurants.  After the Yellow Bar, MORE GELATO, of course.  The villa was calling, but we had to drag LouAnn kicking and screaming back to the car; she didn’t want to leave any Florentine streets unexplored.  Late night, but full day.

Entering the Boboli Gardens.

Picnic in the shade!  Baguette, salami, cheese, cherries, peaches, chips.  And wait – that looks like a banana.

A glimpse of Wilson!  Except he needs an Italian name.  “Giorgio”, perhaps.

Me, with Florentine inspiration, trying to sketch.  It lasted 5 minutes; I’m a HORRIBLE artist.

Georgia fared much better.

Raining down in Florence!  View from the gardens.

Time to race to the Galleria dell’Accademia!

Florence downpour!

We ended up in a line, but at least it was the short, “already have a reservation” line.

Serpenthorn!?

A truly “upright” piano.

Stradivarius!

Somehow the Rolling Stones t-shirt just makes it more special, doesn’t it?

Uncanny, isn’t it?

 

Ellis loved all the medieval panels.

The embroidered altar-piece.

 

The detail was STUNNING.

St. Peter in a pink Snuggie!

GT found this gem in the museum gift shop.

If I get my readers on, you KNOW I’m serious about some educatin’.

Jack ready to represent for the World Cup match vs. England!

Time to head back to the Garage of Shame – another great day.