Day 7 - The Uffizi and Florence from above

Miraculously, the sun came out in the morning and stayed out all day. One could be forgiven for thinking this might be the best day yet in Florence. One would be right.

After a hearty breakfast, we set of for the Uffizi Gallery. The sky was blue, and the sun was shining; Florence was putting on quite a show.

Former government offices (hence the name 'uffizi'), the Uffizi Gallery is one of the greatest galleries in the world, and has the best and most complete collection of Renaissance art. Within its walls are works by giants of art such as Michelangelo, Leonardo, Botticelli, Raphael, Donatello and Rembrandt. We weren't sure how the boys would respond to the art on offer, having looked at a fair amount of frescoes and Churches so far.

As with so many other times on this trip, the boys were amazing. They took in all the Uffizi had to offer, were fascinated by the skill, beauty and history on display. They wandered through the endless rooms, up the steep stairs, completely absorbed in the paintings, drawings and sculpture within. It took us two hours or more to navigate the gallery; when we emerged, we suddenly had a bunch of art critics on our hands - each could tell you their favourite and worst pieces and explain why.

After some shopping and wandering through the San Lorenzo Markets we had lunch in the Mercato Centrale of Florence.

We next boarded a bus which took us to Piazzale Michelangelo, high in the hills encircling Florence. On such a clear day, the city was spread out before us with the Duomo standing proudly in its centre and the Arno River weaving through it like a silver ribbon. The view was, at the risk of using a cliche, amazing. We took in the view for a good part of the afternoon before setting back down the hill, this time on foot.

We walked down ancient paths, through crooked medieval streets and through the old fortifications of Florence. Our trek took us along the Arno, where we followed its course to the Ponte Vecchio, stopping to chat to a group of schoolgirls and their teachers from Oregon USA. It was good to see that the boys had studied up on their historical Italians such as Casanova.

Crossing the Ponte Vecchio we headed back through the Piazza del Duomo and the Piazza Signoria, past the Piazza Nazionale as we went back to the hotel.

Dinner was in another Tuscan trattoria with traditional Tuscan fair, the Trattoria Palle d'Oro. We thought we would commemorate our last night in Florence, and the milder weather, by going for a gelato at Triangolo Delle Bermude gelateria.

We closed off the night by wandering back down to the Piazza Della Signoria. This piazza is fascinating at night with buskers, tourists, lovers and street sellers combining with the history and beauty of the place to add life to the evening.

Tired, excited (and a little anxious) about the upcoming homestay, we took ourselves to the hotel, packed and crawled into bed.