We continue our visit to Florence today with a requisite stop at Visconti, considered by many to be the finest penmakers in all of Europe, followed by a dazzling lunch before we are off to the Uffizi to savor the world's most superb collection of fine art.
We make our way to the new location on Via Porto Rosa, where we learn that Silvio, who like Savonarola, wove fiery stories of his precious Florence, and of his beloved employers, has finally retired. We are instead greeted by his young apprentice, who is just as passionate about her wares, if even less adept at English than poor Silvio, which is saying something!
We select several fine gifts for our dearest friends before heading back to the Excelsior to deposit these gems in our rooms, then head up to SE-STO, the hotel's rooftop restaurant, for our repast before we venture on to the Uffizi to visit some more old friends!
SE-STO is decadently expensive, and it can be, boasting 360 degrees of the finest views in all of Florence, readily achieved in a city where 6 stories is a skyscraper!
We enjoy a remarkably well-prepared prix fixe lunch capped off by raspberry and chocolate gelato, and in this bucolic surrounding, it proves to be more an experience than a mere meal. Adjacent, intimate bar seating is in the place of prominence facing the Duomo, where guests can sip Chianti while watching the sun retreat behind the Arno.
After this decadently delightful repast, we are off to stroll the Arno towards the Ponte Vecchio and the Uffizi, the finest singular collection of arts in the whole world, and a virtual temple to the Renaissance!
Courtesy of Amici degli Uiffizi, we are whisked past even the pre-reserved lines directly into the entrance. Amici was a better value a few years ago when you gained similar VIP access to the Accademia, however just now as we passed those arduous queues, I think membership still has its privileges!
An amalgam of Roman statues culled by the infamous Medici flank the hallways here, enthroned beneath portraits of 400 years of Europe's monarchs and elite, all crowned by Vasari's baroque ceilings. This dizzying sensory overload is a mere prelude to the history of the Renaissance which unfolds in the maze of rooms aptly named Ducento, Trecento, Quattrocento and Cinquecento.
With each turn, genius demonstrably matures from the surreal to purely sublime, culminating in Rafael and Boticelli, Buonarroti and DaVinci,. Leonardo is featured in a special exhibit highlighting the rare drawings on which his works were based, providing fortunate visitors a unique view into the genesis of the man who embodied all that was the Renaissance.
Although late in the day, groups from Asia to Australia still abound. We use them as opportunities to relax on on one of the dozens of benches dotted throughout the museum while they pass by, a welcome respite for the mind and the feet in equal parts. We weave our way through, and although I have been here many times before, the magic which unfolds in these halls never ceases to dazzle and amaze me! Not since the time of the creation has mankind displayed this much genius in a single epoch in time!
We exit through a record-holding 7 gallery shops onto the Palazzo Vecchio where replicas of David sit adjacent the Baroque mastership of Cellini, and find myself fully intoxicated by all this brilliance in less than half a square mile. Florentines stroll about casually unimpressed by the genius in their midst and tolerant of the throngs of visitors only inasmuch as this we are primary source of income today. As we head back to our rooms, I occasionally glance up at a flowery window perched above a square, and think if Silvo can be a pensioner here, maybe someday, I can join him!