The online tickets for the Galeria Dell’ Academia were sold out for the days I was in Florence, so I decided to take my chances on a ticket without a reservation. Even if the online tickets are sold out, tickets can still be purchased at het museum box office on the day of your visit. I arrived a few minutes before opening time at 8:15 AM and had to ask one of the staff where the line was for those without a reservation. It is the line next to the wall, that during the day gets longer and continues around the corner. When I arrived it did not go beyond the corner yet. This line is divided into four little blocks, I was standing in the fourth block, and every 10 to 15 minutes they let around 10 to 12 people advance into the next block. I ended up waiting 1 hour before I could enter to get my ticket. There must have been around 50 people in front of me when I arrived at opening time. If the queue extends beyond the corner, the wait will be over an hour… they let about 10 to 14 people in every 15 min. The museum used to be the Academy of Arts founded by Cosimo I de Medici and houses the largest collection of sculptures by Michelangelo. The museum is crowded, and most visitors come only to see the David by Michelangelo, even though the museum has a lot on show. You find works by Botticelli and Lippi and other late gothic and early renaissance masters, unfinished sculptures by Michelangelo, a wonderful collection of plaster models, and a large collection of gold ground paintings from the 13th to the 15th century. The David stands on a high tribune, and even if it is busy, everyone can easily admire the whole statue. And even though you can see a copy of the statue in front of the Palazzo Vecchio, the real thing in marble is so much more impressive.
I visited the theatre/bookshop/cinema Odeon (1922) in art nouveau style, next to the Palazzo Strozzi, which was closed the day before for an inventory. The bookshop features a large English book section and the cinema is a great place to catch a film in the evening, and there is a café around the corner.
I walked to the Chiesa di San Salvatore di Ognissanti, which was closed the day before and of which the last supper is also included in the combined San Marco ticket. Unfortunately the last supper cannot be seen anymore and is closed indefinitely. But the church with its baroque interior is free of charge and is really worth a visit, it has beautiful trompe l’oeuil paintings on the ceiling, a work by Filipino Lippi: St Augustine in His Study, and here you find the tomb of Sandro Botticelli, who chose to be buried in the church near his muse Simonetta Vespucci, who was his model for Venus and Primavera.
I walked to the Piazza della Signoria where you can visit the patio/entrance of the Palazzo Vecchio free of charge and where compared the copy of the David by Michelangelo before the entrance with the real deal I had seen that morning. Also the Loggia dei Lanzi on the south side of the square with its many statues is free of charge. I continued in the direction to the Bargello museum where I took a peek through the windows before entering one of the oldest churches of the city the Chiesa Badia Fiorentina, to see the work of Filippino Lippi, the Apparition of the Virgin to Saint Bernard. There was a mass going on so I only stayed a few minutes.
I was a bit hungry but overhead thunder announced rain, so decided to visit the Santa Croce church first. The church is founded by the Franciscan friars and is known for its tombs of Galilei, Michelangelo, Dante, Rossini en Machiavelli among others. The whole floor is covered with gravestones for Franciscans, members of powerful families and military captains. There are beautiful fresco’s and a crucifix that is a kind of remembrance of the devastating flooding of 1966 in the sacristy, the Medici Chapel has an altarpiece by Della Robbia and the Pazzi Chapel in the cloister is designed by Brunelleschi with again a beautiful entrance where the dome is decorated by a Della Robbia. In the refectory you can see a fresco of the Last Supper superimposed by a crucifixion as a tree of life, a bronze statue by Donatello (assembled out of 10 pieces) and a restored Last Supper by Vasari that was damaged by water and mud of the floods. The line on the wall shows how high the water came, 5 meters high!
By the end of my visit I was really hungry and decided to try a Sandwich at the very popular Pino’s Sandwiches. I had to stand in line for about 10 to 15 minutes, but it was worth the freshly made warm Vegetarian sandwich. Pino’s Sandwiches has a very varied menu, there is something for everyone’s taste.
Walking back in the direction of the hotel I took a peek into the Or San Michele, a gem of gothic architecture, which looked really stunning. It used to be a multifunctional place which wasn’t only a church but also a grain market and oratory. The gothic tabernacle dedicated to the madonna is extra ordinary. The outside does not look like a church but holds beautiful statues of the patron saints of different guilds of Florence. Before reaching the hotel I treated myself to a gelato from My Sugar, one of the better gelato places in Florence!!
chefmaison 