The Perils of Paul(ine)

Let me tell you a little story…..what do you suppose happens when your husband tells you he’s going out for a little stroll in the evening by himself? Sounds innocent enough don’t you think? Until he comes home with a pair of Italian shoes! Does this man not know that the wife gets shoes first? I mean, really? Well, here comes the universe to explain. He gets sick! Really sick. And I did feel sorry for him. How awful to be on vacation and be miserable. But it did introduce us to a new experience.

Si! Si! The Farmacia! And it’s pretty amazing what you can get there!

Hubby wanted cough syrup and Vitamin C. We thought the pharmacist would think we were nut is we tried to explain about “Vicks VapoRub” but you can see for yourself, normale! Johnson & Johnson no less. Who would of thought? And here’s is a brilliant thing – on the side of the cough syrup we noticed raised bumps. Turns out there are directions in Braille!  What an absolutely great idea! After a few days of down time he felt better (it was a bronchial cold – how I haven’t gotten it is beyond me) so we hit the town in grand style. However, before I go into that I have to reveal the charismatic gentleman who enticed my hubby:

So of course how could Hubby resist such and excellent salesperson? I have to tell you that this picture does not do him justice – he is VERY handsome. He’s one of the nicest, helpful and knowledgeable merchants I’ve met. So far he’s number one on the list. When hubby went without me he (hubby) gave him a piece of Sedona sandstone with a write-up on it and a postcard of Sedona. When we returned he told us he put the post card in his travel diary and the stone in a special pouch. I think I’m in amore (platonic of course) but my sister in law has already put dibs on him and we’re supposed to bring him back in our suitcase. (The extra one I wanted to bring but nooooo, that was nixed. We’ll have to think of something else. Maybe we can lure him over with a promise of a tour of OUR leather factory. Lol!  Oh and if you’re ever in the neighborhood, here’s his shop:

So Stefano of “Sabatini’s” won our hearts. And I plan on giving him a small token as well. And yes! I made a gorgeous purchase of buttery Italian boots at a fabulous price. (Don’t tell Stefano that!) There’s another pair I have my eye on.  The address of his shop is: Borgo degli Albizi, 75r, 50122 Firenze, Italia. And just to make you jealous, we have his cell number and his email! Can’t give that out without his permission.

Okay, on to bigger and I do mean bigger things! The Uffizi Museo. We decided to get the family pass to become member and the upside is it get’s you into almost everything – the Accadamia Gallery, Pitti Palace, Boboli Gardens just to mention a few (of the things I want to see)!

We head to the Uffizi Museo. Sounds harmless enough, right? Do you have any idea how many intriguing shops are along the way? It’s almost criminal. And it almost was….hubby was on a mission to get there and his patience was waning with me goggling at this that and everything. But happily we made it. Now the adventure is trying to buy the pass and get in. There is door #1, door #2, and door #3. I felt like Monty Hall. Hey, let’s make a deal! Let us find the right one first and we’ll behave. But no, we traversed every single one and still were confused. Oh, you crazy Americanos! We finally made it to the entrance and voila, were able to bypass the queques (Yay!). You have to go through security as there are strict rules, such as no food or water, you can take in a camera but are not allowed to take pictures (damage to the paintings) and backpacks of a certain size must be checked. We had to take off jackets, etc and when I went through the sensor my watch sounded the alarm. The guard had been watching us bobble, juggle, and generally look totally goofy. He finally rolled his eyes and waved us through. We rented the audio tour so we could share the information which was really nice.  Then we noticed the four flights of stairs yet to climb. Oy! Half way up you’ll be happy to know we noticed a sign down below that said “lift” which of course is the elevator we neglected to see before THE TREK. Good thing we are exercise fanatics and are not the least overweight or have desk jobs. Not. Pant, pant. But it was worth every step. And steps there were. Oh, but the art. Starting with the 13th century, the paintings were breathtaking. I wish we had pictures to show but of course that is forbidden. However I did see quite a number of people taking them anyway with their phones. Now I don’t know if that is allowed or not, but it seemed like cheating. Most of them were young people so I am going to think that they are serious art students and forgive them. So on and on we wandered through the various rooms, each century incredible in it’s own glory. I must say that after awhile some of them melted into each other and I was a little bleary eyed. There is so much to see and so much information, it was a little overwhelming. And the detail in each painting was so captivating you can’t just whiz by. Some of the pictures took 5 years plus to paint. Amazing. Half way through (this place is huge) we hit the wall, leg and feet cramps, thirst, hunger, took it’s toll so we decided to explore the second half another day. So now it’s picture time. :  )

Oh! The first two are what we thought at first were art work – but they were humans in costume! They were perfectly still, but if you put a coin in the ornate box at their feet they came to life and interacted with you and let you have your picture taken with them.

He was so sweet and gentle. It took us awhile before we saw him move – we didn’t realize he was alive!

This lady was quite charming, and I dropped coins in her pot. She came to life and handed me an ornate headpiece to put on and hubby took our picture. I was very happy, but you won’t see that shot here! Can you imagine holding that pose for any length of time? Not I!

Next come sculptures. They are everywhere and then some. In walls, on buildings, stand alone, etc. Here are some of our favorites.

This is “David” outside the Uffizi. We will visit the original in the Accademia Gallery

This picture really doesn’t do justice to the statue. The gladiator\warrior looks very innocent in the face and my first impression was that if he could speak, he’d say “You talkin’ to me?” I truly mean no disrespect, it just tickled me. The detail and artistry in these pieces is almost unbelievable.

Here’s a happy shot. I can’t remember at the moment the title so you’ll have to look it up. One thing I did notice on most of the statues is that the feet are quite large. I will stop there. :  )

So I hope this will hold you for a bit. We have to get out and about again, so many things to do, sights to see, and people to charm and\or bewilder!

Ciao for now!

Tags: art, Boboli Garden, Florence, Italy, Shopping, statues, Uffizi Museo