Bargello, Boboli and Bardi - 11 April

Evening light on the Palazzo della Signoria

Yesterday had a rest day. Stayed at the apartment and slept and read, very tired. In the evening I went out and wandered the Piazza della Signoria, and had salmon bruschetta, a beer, a chocolate cake and a coffee. Forgot to put olive oil on my bruschetta, but hey, I'm a tourist; the Italians know we're all crazy. Nice to just sit in the evening sunshine and people-watch. Lots of school groups (it's their holidays and all of them seem to have come to Florence). All of them seem to be at that age where they discover the opposite sex - lots of flirting and chasing and noisy, silly behaviour - "showing off" my mother would have called it. Nice waiter at Perseo. I had to buy more bottled water, this is a daily chore here, as Florence does not have such good water as Rome does. Here the water is heavily chlorinated, only fit for washing.

Today I went for another 'long' day. First to the Bargello (courtyard above), Florence's sculpture museum. This is less popular with the tourist crowds than the Uffizi, so is well worth a visit. Several of Michelangelo's works are here, also Donatello's famous "David". Michelangelo's 'Drunken Bacchus" is one of my favourites - you can see that he is nearly, nearly at the falling-down stage.

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The last time I saw Donatello's "David" in 2007, the bronze was being restored, lying on its back in the middle of the room. Now it stands upright in all its nude glory. This was a somewhat controversial piece, rumoured to be modelled by a well-known Florentine rent-boy. It was cast for the Medici, but was not popular,  the nudity of the subject perhaps being too confrontational and it was later relegated to a garden area.

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The Isolotto, Boboli.

Then I travelled on to the Boboli Gardens, the largest garden in  Florence, created behind the Pitti Palace for (you guessed it) the Medici.

Sea-goat atop a gate to the Isolotto.

Statue of Autumn, Viale Cipressi

Viale Cipressi

Then up the famous Viale Cipressi with its statues of gods and goddesses. For me, the best part of Boboli is the little garden piazza by the Porcelain Museum. You go up some dark shaded steps, no idea where you'll come out, and WOW! There you are in the sunshine with a beautiful rose garden and stunning views of the southern hills of Florence. A real coup de jardin.

Huge Banksia rose on the wall of the terrace of the Porcelain Museum

View to the west - the old city wall and watchtower

The Porcelain Museum and its garden

Views to the East

The ticket for Boboli also gets you into the Giardino Bardini, a lovely small garden that was only re-opened in 2007 after long restoration. Not considered one of the 'great' gardens of Italy by the experts, for me it makes up for lack of grandeur with a pleasing intimacy and informality. The only survival of the Baroque garden is the central staircase down the middle. The villa and garden originally belonged to the Bardi family, but both family and garden had a mixed history. At one time it was owned by an Englishman, so current plantings have continued with an "English" feel. 

Fabulous wisteria tunnel

Baroque staircase

The view over the city is spectacular. It's so nice to be in a green, quiet place after so much noise and stonework in the city.