Saturday, 2 January

Florence

I got up at half past seven, and we were ready to start the tour at half past nine. The tour guide, Mario Jiubbilei, was the same tour guide who had taken me for a tour four years ago. He could still remember! He is really good at history, and was quite good in English. He was also good about elaborating, so that we were glad to listen, and thought that we had learnt much more than reading several books on political and art history.

We first visited: 1) the Church of San Lorenzo (Medici Chapel), then the scripture of Michelangelo, then 2) The Gate of Paradise, 3) The Baptistery, 4) Santa Croce. At Santa Croce we bought some tiny souvenirs made of leather and visited a Mosaic Factory, 5) Petti Gallery. At one we had lunch at Sabatini Via Panzani, 13. The food was not bad, and the price reasonable. The scampi was particularly good.

At 2.00 p.m., we continued the journey. We first went to the Academy to see the Colossal Statue of David by Michelangelo. Then we went to Uffizi Gallery. There were many good things in the gallery. We left at four and returned to hotel. Then I took a walk with Kitty and Zhongxiong, but there was nothing worth buying. At half past seven we went together to Romana restaurant, Via Dei Neri, 31, for dinner. It was the oldest restaurant in Italy. The building of the restaurant was formerly the house of the Cerchi family. It was built in the mid-15 century, while the restaurant was founded by the Paoli brothers in 1817. In its founding record, it recounted how it was found and some pictures were attached. The images depicted a time when people old and young, dogs as well as cats come to the restaurant; they were thin. But when they left, they all became fat. The decoration inside was quite old and elegant. The food was reasonably good and not expensive.

This is my third visit for the places I have visited today, therefore I do not have much to further record. There was only one thing worthy of mentioning. When I visited the Pitti Gallery, I happened to see the painter, Checchi Leone, Via dell’Arcovata, 10. When the tour guide introduced him, he said Checchi Leone was the best-known painter in Florence.