So, yesterday we headed to Florence, firstly to replace my laptop charger at the Apple Store, but then to visit the Uffizi Gallery. We went there the first time we visited Florence in 2003 and I wanted to go back again.

This involved an early start as the train from Siena to Florence takes around an hour and a half, and we wanted heaps of time to find things before our entry time for the gallery of 12:30. So, we allowed ourselves heaps of time to get to the railway station in time for the 8:18am train. It was a pleasant walk and very quiet – no one really starts early here any day of the week, let alone Saturday! The train trip was pleasant too – through still-frosty countryside and small towns.

We found our way to the Apple Store quickly and then filled in some time with a visit to a bookshop to get texts for one of my university courses at Victoria, a stroll and a coffee, before heading to the Uffizi early to see if we could get in early. Even though it is low season here the queue for the Duomo in Florence was lengthy, and there was a queue at the Uffizi if you hadn’t pre-booked. Anyway we sailed straight in and headed off to have an early lunch. We shared the cafe terrace with some extremely well-fed sparrows and pigeons, then wandered our way around the galleries.

Sculpture, of which the Uffizi has bucket loads, doesn’t really do it for me. My highlight was seeing Botticelli’s paintings but there are so many amazing paintings, and for me it said something that there was no one paying much attention to the Rembrandts! Lots of other interesting things too, including the gothic art and a special exhibition by a contemporary Chinese artist who used, amongst other things, gunpowder to make his works.

So, a few pictures: