(no subject)
September 24, 2014
ANOTHER GOOD DAY???? how does this keep happening
so mom and I slept 10 hours (it was amazing) and got up and had a very nice leisurely breakfast!!! david (the amazing waiter) wanted to know all about cinque terre and did it rain and how did we like it and etc. etc. he is the cutest man to ever have lived. he is like 5’0” and balding and energetic and so cute oh noooooo
so yes we enjoyed a nice slow breakfast and a nice slow morning and didn’t leave til about 11:15
IT WAS KINDA CHILLY
my original plan was to go see Michelangelo’s David at the Accademia today but like…we didn’t buy tickets ahead of time b/c I am lazy, and when we got there the line looked INSANE. it looked like it’d take about 3 or 4 hours, honestly. and okay, I like art. I understand David is the greatest sculpture ever made and an incredible experience to see and etc. but I do not want to wait in a 3 hour line for 10 minutes of staring at a statute. WE ARE IN FLORENCE. WE HAVE THINGS TO DO.
so my mom and I immediately agreed to skip the Accademia
we wandered away and about 30 feet away my eye caught on this incredible red leather jacket in a store and then a cute purse and my mom and I meandered into the store
long story short my mom ended up buying the red leather jacket and it looked soooooo pretty on her!!! it has a little leather bow by the neck and an open collar and gosh it’s lovely. the sales lady also wanted to sell her an 845 Euro purse (discounted to 650 b/c we are so nice or w/e) but I kinda hinted to my mom that she needed to think on it first
so! we went to the Opificio delle Pietre Dure (otherwise known as the Museum of Semi-Precious Stones), which is about 100 feet away from the Accademia entrance and (I honestly believe) just as incredible
it’s a museum full of works of art (mostly mosaics) created using semi-precious stoneworks, called pietre dure. mom and I were both amazed at the whole thing. we both agreed it was our fav museum this whole time I just loved it and it was so small and quiet (basically no one there???? why)
they had an entire fireplace made out of this bright green malachite and I got in trouble for touching it
so then we exited and mom agreed that a 650 euro purse was too expensive
we decided we were getting hungry (t was about 2pm b/c we’d spent so much time in the museum) and we just started walking around looking for something that looks good
I have discovered that in addition to a very sophisticated creep radar, I also have a “good restaurants” radar
we walked past a couple and then discovered “bar ristorante bonaugo” and I’m so in love with this place???? we sat down and the cutest lil waiter (he reminded me of Daivd) came over and I was like “can we get a menu” and he goes “I AM THE MENU!!!!!!” and I started talking and he was like pls slow down my English is not so good
and I laughed and looked at my mom (who was looking at David) and apparently while I wasn’t looking he executed this fake swoon and fanned his face
what a cute
we basically got the first thing he suggested (there really weren’t menus) which was vegetarian lasagna and some white wine. the wine as usual was lovely
the lasagna
the lasagnaaaaaaaaa
sooooo cheesy and rich and good and the burnt cheese on top and ohhhh goddd it was so good I’m having palpations
after the meal he brought us these adorable tiny heart cookies with dollops of candied apricot on top and he didn’t bring them to any other table soooo
basically one of the greatest meals of my life and itw as just very informal and adorable. at one point a pigeon wandered into the restaurant and the waiter only shooed him out once he noticed me looking pigeon lmao I feel like they were buddies
so! we left and headed to the Medici Chapel. another lovely museum (kinda expensive but not bad) and I enjoyed that one a TON. I loved the history combined with the art and architecture. plus I saw some Michelangelo statues anyway in the chapel so SUCK IT ACCADEMIA!!!!!!!!! there were some very noisy americans but we managed to avoid them
also like 10489132 reliquaries which I found FASCINATING and a couple of saint Sebastian and I thought of askee and laughed also I’m taking a picture of every painting of saint Sebastian I see
we scooted out of the medici chapel right at closing (I think a little past closing) and wandered a bit thru the Lorenzo market. midway thru we found this food bazaar (inside a building) and wandered through it, I wish mom had been in the mood for wine b/c they had a few bars that did tastings inside the bazaar I would have LOVED to try. they also had this culinary school in the back doing classes inside a room with glass walls so we could watch the students cooking some pasta
wandered out again (got lost b/c fuck the Lorenzo market that place is a MAZE)
oh yeah! mom wanted to buy a purse, so we went back to this store in the Piazza san Croce we saw on the very first day. but mom wasn’t feelin the purse she’d liked back then (it was a little dull) but we DID see a purse that we’d seen in the store earlier that day. I hadn’t liked it in the first store but for some reason I was feelin it this time???? it had a different handle on it and more embellishment idk I liked it and mom ended up getting it for 300 euros b/c we were like “ummm this was cheaper at another store) so we talked her down a little and mom was very happy with her purchases
I found a silk scarf in another store and the guy selling it instructed me on about 5 or 6 different ways to wear it, absolutely none of which I remember now, but it’s very pretty regardless
then we ate at the restaurant right outside the Gucci museum (which I stared at longingly). we just wanted something light b/c the lasagna was SO HEAVY AND RICH earlier that day. mom got a salad and I got some beef carpaccio with rocket and carrots and zucchini and olive oil and it was delicious. we also got some wine from san gimignano and mom got 3 (!!!) fruit flies in her wine. the first time she got another glass and the other two times she just kinda gamely fished the flies out
then I flipped out b/c I discovered the Air France strike still is not done!!!! so lmao we’ll see what happens. our flight might get cancelled who the hell knows.
wandered over to St Mark’s Anglican Church for the opera only to discover they changed the time to 45 minutes later. mom and I were a lil pissed and we couldn’t find a restaurant with seating (b/c Italians seem to eat around 8 so everywhere was full) but eventually we found a wine bar across the street from the Palazzo Pitti and I am GLAD because we got two glasses of the best red wine I’ve ever had (it was a Brunello and ohhh maaaan)
went pee
went to the opera and like????
I cried
it was very emotional and gorgeous I don’t really have words for it. the main male singer was SUPER EMOTIVE (??? IS THAT WORD?) and the two main female singers were FANTASTIC. my fav was this soprano with red hair who looked just like joan from mad men. just very very good. they all seemed to have a great time performing together and my mom and I both agreed it was like…the highlight of this trip
managed to snag the bus home <3
a very relaxing day <3