I didn't get my tickets ahead of time, so I had to wait in live for over an hour to get admission to the
Ufizi Museum. I was able to keep entertained by not only my music, but also watching all the counterfeiters work the crowd. They were the peak efficiency of being able to pack up and split in an instant using a blanket as their table for the copy handbags so that everything can be wrapped and moved the moment a cop was spotted. There was always a lookout with a cell phone that would be able to signal the group to depart and scatter with the cop showing up at a stroll about 30 seconds later; only to find everyone returning within a minute. The Uffizi did have a pretty extensive collection with several famous pieces. In Florence alone one could witness works created by all of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Donatello, Michelangelo, Leonardo, and Rafael). Since I was not in the least of a rush, I spent several hours here just browsing each room and level while being lead around by a couple of the useful audio guides.
I wandered around a while more and made it to Santa Croce and then hung around the farmer's market for a while. I sat down to read my guidebook about this church only to realize then that it was the burial site of two historic heroes, Michelangelo and Galileo. Unfortunately when I read this, it was literally just 5 minutes after closing time. Argggg, it would have been nice to pay homage. I headed back towards the Duomo and took the Renaissance audio tour just as it was getting dark. I hit the Ponte Vecchio one last time and sat for a long while as a musician played an Italian guiter and sang some lovely, lonely songs. Apparently there were only two of us in the hostel, so it was pretty quiet, probably reminiscent of its history as a convent. I made a few phone calls using my iPod Touch and Skype before checking e-mail and heading to bed for another early start to the train station. I wanted to get in an out of Pisa as early as I could in the morning so I could have more time in Cinque Terra.
street art
empty hostel lobby
I didn't get my tickets ahead of time, so I had to wait in live for over an hour to get admission to the Ufizi Museum. I was able to keep entertained by not only my music, but also watching all the counterfeiters work the crowd. They were the peak efficiency of being able to pack up and split in an instant using a blanket as their table for the copy handbags so that everything can be wrapped and moved the moment a cop was spotted. There was always a lookout with a cell phone that would be able to signal the group to depart and scatter with the cop showing up at a stroll about 30 seconds later; only to find everyone returning within a minute. The Uffizi did have a pretty extensive collection with several famous pieces. In Florence alone one could witness works created by all of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Donatello, Michelangelo, Leonardo, and Rafael). Since I was not in the least of a rush, I spent several hours here just browsing each room and level while being lead around by a couple of the useful audio guides.
I wandered around a while more and made it to Santa Croce and then hung around the farmer's market for a while. I sat down to read my guidebook about this church only to realize then that it was the burial site of two historic heroes, Michelangelo and Galileo. Unfortunately when I read this, it was literally just 5 minutes after closing time. Argggg, it would have been nice to pay homage. I headed back towards the Duomo and took the Renaissance audio tour just as it was getting dark. I hit the Ponte Vecchio one last time and sat for a long while as a musician played an Italian guiter and sang some lovely, lonely songs. Apparently there were only two of us in the hostel, so it was pretty quiet, probably reminiscent of its history as a convent. I made a few phone calls using my iPod Touch and Skype before checking e-mail and heading to bed for another early start to the train station. I wanted to get in an out of Pisa as early as I could in the morning so I could have more time in Cinque Terra.
street art
empty hostel lobby
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