Tuesday we had reserved tickets for the Accademia, known for Michelangelo's David and not much else. Tom unfortunately had to work all day, but Martha and I headed out to the San Lorenzo market area to see how the sellers might tempt us, which was not very much. We found a rustic trattoria for lunch and had bowls of tasty penne and ragu, then set off for the Accademia.
Did I mention in was raining? A lot? The map got wet. Martha's GPS could tell us where we were but not where we were going. A wrong turn. Maybe several, who knows. About 45 minutes later we discovered that we had made a huge circle, and were even farther from our destination than when we started. When we finally arrived, to add insult to injury, the lines, even for reserved tickets, were long (and wet). The computers had stopped, so no one could be admitted. Finally, at almost 3:00 we were allowed in for our 2:00 reserved time.
One look at David and it was worth it, at least for me. Unfortunately, no photos.
After the Accademia, we headed off toward the Medici-Riccardo Palace, a really wonderful find. It is the home of the Medicis, featuring the remnant of the original garden that stretched for over a city block; a really cool computerized detail of the frescoes in the private chapel where you can stand in front of the giant computer screen and point at the figure you want identified, and a voice (in any one of several languages) will tell you what you are looking at; the chapel itself (limited to 7 people for 7 minutes at a time, but for us in the downpour, no waiting and no time limit); and a magnificent meeting hall with a gorgeous fresco on the ceiling and deightful putti (cupids) over the doors. Then a cab back to the apartment, where we collected Tom and found a terrific dinner on the next block (beefsteak for Tom, risotto with mushrooms for Martha, and papardelle with beef ragu for me).
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