Thursday, October 27, started very early!

The western sky as we were driving to the airport. Phoebe left today after a nice visit! It was fun to have her here. We breezed to the airport - luckily it was light by the time we got into city traffic! Once we saw her checked in & going through security, Sarah and I headed to the Uffizi Gallery using Google Maps. It was going well until we found ourselves on an 'authorized vehicle only' street! Our little BMW looked out of place with all the delivery trucks...we have decided that Google Maps can't read one way or special instructional signs!! Or perhaps it is the navigator's reading skills that are in question??!!! Not all of Florence is old:

 We found ourselves on the south side of the Arno so made our way to the garage we used earlier so had another chance to cross the Ponte Vecchio in less crowded conditions & before most shops were opened:

In getting to the Uffizi, we didn't have reserved tickets but at 9:00 a.m. on a Thursday morning, we walked right in! Now by the time we left, there was a line with the galleries being crowded.

There was a crane I was trying to avoid so the tower isn't showing so well

Ceiling in one of the long corridors and throughout are spectacular!

Here are a few of the paintings we saw by Michelangelo, Leonardo, etc.:

As always when I go to a museum, I became overwhelmed! Such beauty...

View from inside

View of Duomo from Uffizi cafeteria terrace

I never can resist a book, even if it is a painting!

Or a library!!

After approximately 3 hours and by now crowded conditions, we were ready for some fresh air and food so headed out to the Piazza.

Then we made our way to see the boar and lo, there was the leather market that I remembered from 1979!

And the boar, of course! Rub his nose for luck...

Now lunch was a priority - we came upon this small cafeteria-type place

where you told or pointed to what you wanted from selections of pizza, pasta, salads. etc. With pasta you could choose up to 3 different kinds per bowl!!

Sarah's three

My two

Even with the rest, my knee was hurting so we headed back to the car. One man was on duty (this was the place where they stacked the cars) & he couldn't find our car!! He was getting agitated but we assured him we were in no hurry - it was hiding behind a pickup - yes, a small one but who would chose to drive a pickup in Florence??!! So home we whizzed with absolutely no issues to enjoy the sunny, fall afternoon on the patio! We also did get a load of laundry done in time for it to be hung outside.

Sarah modeling our unique laundry basket!

My view from the deck chair after a short snooze! By 5:00 p.m., it was cooling down so we moved inside to plan tomorrow and have a quiet night at home! Phoebe texted that her flight out of Zurich was delayed. Haven't heard if she made connection in Chicago or not...