Megan had told me about a tour that takes you along a corridor that was built by Giorgio Vasari, the court architect for the Medici dukes. It was built in only 5 months in 1565 for the Grand Duke Cosimi I.

It allowed the family members to move about between their various residences without having to step into the street below and mix with crowds. It was also a case of security since there had been some threats against the family.

It goes from the Palazzo Vecchio (the palace where the original David stood outside the entrance) into the Uffizi (the offices of the banking Medici family) and all the way to the Pitti Palace, another residence.

Looking up at the right side of the photo where the round window is shows the part of the corridor that had to go around a tower owned by someone not intimidated enough by Cosimi to allow him to go through their tower!

The tour was pretty interesting. The corridor is filled with self-portraits of artists and patrons. Cardinal Leopoldo de’ Medici, was very interested in sciences and was a great patron of the arts. He was the one who started the self-portrait collection.

They called it a self-portrait even if it wasn’t painted by the subject. So the cardinal’s self portrait was actually done by an artist.

Part of the Vasari corridor was blown up during the war and was not repaired for quite some time. It was blown up again when the mafioso shocked Florence by blowing up a car and a family below the corridor. Again, it took a long time to repair and they are still working on parts of other buildings that were damaged by the bomb in 1993. I guess the mafioso had never been a problem in Florence and sounds like it hasn’t been since either.

The Ponte Vecchio was spared destruction in WWII but all the other bridges were destroyed including one designed by Michelangelo. When it was rebuilt, it was reconstructed as it had been.

The tour ended in the Boboli Gardens at the Palazzo Pitti. There is a grotto just outside and also a statue of the Medici dwarf.

After the tour I went across the street to a restaurant/wine bar that Megan had also told me about and made reservations for Wednesday. They had excellent reviews online so I am looking forward to it.

I was starved by that time as I hadn’t eaten all day so I tried to find a Neopolitan pizza place she had told me about. I think the most frustrating thing about Florence has been my inability to find places. I have always been able to get my bearings easily in places when I have traveled. But here I get messed up practically every time I walk out the front door! I think it is because the buildings are tall, you can’t see the sun, so don’t know which direction is which.

Typically I look directions up online before I leave the apartment and write down instructions. I don’t have data on my phone so can’t use Google maps when out and about.

The streets are not straight and they change names often along the same one. I never found the pizza place but stopped at another and got one. It was sausage and arugula. Pretty good but huge! I basically ate the middle and left the outer crust.

It started to sprinkle just as I was leaving. People were putting umbrellas up left and right. It was barely enough to make my hair curl.

However, it picked up in the night a bit so it kept the noise level down at the bar and in the street. Yay! I actually slept the best since I have been in Florence!