Another easy train booking and we were on our way to Florence, going thru lots of tunnels. We pulled into the train station and immediately felt an increase in temperature and humidity. A short taxi ride later and we were at the Residenza Epoca, quickly checked in and back out the door to rush to the Ufizi Galleries, where we had a 15-minute window to get a “skip the line” ticket we reserved. May is not yet full tourism season in Florence but it seemed very crowded to us as we wove our way thru the crowds.
We made it to the museum in time, and we basically got the history of modern painting laid out as we started with 13th century Florentine church art and went forward from there. Not too many rooms til we hit Botticelli, then da Vinci, then Michaelangelo and Raphael, then Titian and on to Caravaggio. Mixed in were paintings from the Flemish schools, culminating in Rembrandt. A much needed lunch and break for our weary feet, and then on to more exploration of the museum. Four hours later, we felt we earned a gelato, then back to freshen up for dinner.
And what a dinner! The restaurant next door, Konnubio, was highly rated on Trip Advisor and it is owned/managed by the same company as our B&B. We were lucky with our choice. Our appetizer (octopus sliced with breaded celeriac cubes and radicchio slaw, topped with spicy mayonnaise), two primi (nettle gnocchi with a smoked bean and asparagus sauce, small pea pasta with a vegetable minestrone and dollops of a creamy cheese) and a spectacular red snapper with alternating spoonfuls of a red pepper sauce and a mussels/hazelnut sauce, were high craftsmanship and some bold flavor choices, and completely different from elegant Venice and homey Bologna restaurants we tried.
A bit of walking, streets and restaurants and bars loud with the hum of people talking and laughing, and we were happily set for the night.
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