Pitti Palace

Today was spent at the Palace, which is pretty much right next door. This place is MASSIVE, this is the day you wear good supporting sneakers.... which I did not. I thought the Palace and garden visit was going to be Sunday. Oh well, you'll learn from my mistake.

So the front of that Palace is just stone, brick, and pretty much nothing special. Of course you would have to go inside to get the beauty of the place. I decided to go in the gardens first (a separate ticket), the sun was out and I was missing trees. I was taking my time walking on all the tree covered paths, just breathing in the lovely fresh air. Just like grass, you don't realize you miss seeing it until you see it again. The garden was just so peaceful and beautiful. It would have taken all day to see every part of the gardens, so I didn't even attempt it. I just wandered around hoping to find something picture worthy.... which you know I did, a lot of picture worthy places. I even found that horrid statue and cave that Robert Langdon talks about and hides in in Inferno. I was a little disappointed that I couldn't go in the cavern, but I was able to get some pictures of the inside through the gate.

By now I decided to go into the Palace. Since I was by myself I was a bit unsure of where I was going. When I got up to the third floor and someone asked for my ticket I knew I was in the right spot. This place is so ornate and colorful and as big as it seems from the outside. I don't even know if I saw everything there is to see here, but that's ok, what I saw satisfied my curiosity of the Palace. I did want to see the Costume Gallery, it's mentioned in the book and I know a few people who would weep at the site of these beautiful pieces. So I got pictures of all the dresses! I figured that was the end of my tour of the Palace, I saw lots of paintings, painted ceilings, and I was getting hungry.

As I was leaving the Palace I made a last minute decision to not go back to my hotel for lunch. There is a place not far (ha ha ha) from the hotel that gives a spectacular view of the city. It's probably the same place that my background picture was taken from. It's called the Piazzale Michelangelo, yes, there is a statue of Michelangelo's David up there. So I checked my map to make sure of the streets I had to travel, I went by myself, and just started walking. I was hoping for a short cut, there isn't one really. When I got to the base of the overlook I was second guessing myself. A lot of steps, a steep-ish incline, and more puke at the bottom of the stairs indicating to me that someone had some issues.

I got up there alright, just out of breath (still struggling with that cough) and a bit sweaty. The view, yet again, was worth it. I took a couple of pictures and texted them to my sister-in-law, she was impressed. I got a few pictures from up there.... then i realized my camera's white balance was set to fluorescent lighting.... DAMN IT! I can fix it in lightroom, just disappointed that I have to. Oh well. I was asked by a german couple if I would take their pictures. No problems, except the girlfriend was very particular about what she wanted in the background. I took about 5 pictures for them then quickly moved on before she decided I didn't do a good job again.

I found a few different street vendors that had some things I wanted to look at for gifts for my kids. I found a nice hat for my son and a cute pink shirt for my youngest. Don't be silly, I got something for me as well, a pretty blue scarf. After I made the purchases I headed back to the hotel. Once down that insane hill I remembered I had an apple in my bag. Best tasting apple ever.... yes, I was hungry. Surprisingly enough that apple was enough to curb the hunger.

Tonight dinner was on JMU again. We went to some place just up the block a bit, I don't really remember what it was called and I forgot to get a card. Maybe that was because I didn't exactly enjoy my meal. It was risotto with zucchini and heart of parmesan.... too heavy on the parmesan for my taste. We only had about a half hour to eat due to the concert we were going to that was at the church right next to us. This was the same church that I was not allowed to take pictures in, and I snuck just one. This concert was classical music, so a small strings ensemble. It was beautiful music, but the church was fa-reeeezing! When the concert was over some of the group went to find the night life, one went back to the hotel, the rest of us went to have some gelato (I know, shocker!). I had dark chocolate again and a chocolate mousse (are you surprised?), very good!!! On the way home we found a place to have our final dinner, kind of pricy but more than likely very worth it. We'll find out on Monday.

Here is your daily intake of photos and beauty.

Sorry for the blue hue.... forgot to reset the white balance. I'll edit later.