Italy: Day 11 - Firenze

Today we (well - most of us) went to Firenze. John drove while Jo navigated. We found a great parking lot not too far from the Arno. We walked to the downtown district along the Arno. In one block, Jesse counted 178 motor scooters lined up one after another. I loved taking pictures of the bridges over the Arno. We went to the Uffizi (we had about a 2 hour wait). For those of you who don't know - the only way to get into the Uffizi is to wait in a long line. We met some interesting people in the line. John was able to try out his new language skills with some people in the line. We finally made it to the front of the line and were able to go into the museum. Bummer - no photos were allowed. (I kind of suspected this anyway!). We saw many of the pieces that the boys had studied. I really liked the place. It was really neat. You could be very close to the pieces. They had guards, and as John found out, they had electronic sensors that buzzed when you crossed too close to any one piece. At the end of the art section - there was a big exhibit on Leonardo da Vinci. It told of his life and some of the ideas he had. What a brilliant man! I think that the 3 boys who were with us had a better time here than seeing the art in the galleries. We went out for pizza tonight. Remember about reposo? Well - this place did not open until 7:30. We showed up just after 7:00 and had to wait outside until they opened. I think that they were pleased that we only ordered pizza - as they had several large reservations coming in at 8:00 or so. As it was - we were in and out in less than 45 minutes. It was expensive - but good. I think that all of the kids liked the pizza.
Here we are walking along the Arno to the Uffizi. What a great day for pictures.
One of the many bridges over the Arno.
The Ponte Vecchio from inside the Uffizi.