The Pitti Palace

Today, we visited yet another famous Florentine icon, Il Porcellino, which means “the little pig.”  It is a statue of a pig located in the Mercato Nuovo (the New Market) and supposedly brings good luck to visitors who rub his bronze snout. 

Il Porcellino was on the way to The Pitti Palace, another museum located in a huge Renaissance mansion on the south side of the River Arno near the Ponte Vecchio.  The Palace dates to 1458 and was originally the town residence of Luca Pitti, an ambitious and wealthy Florentine banker.  It was bought by the Medici family in 1549 and became the chief residence of the ruling families of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany.

Like the Uffizi the day before, this museum was simply too vast to take in.  It was less crowded than the Uffizi had been, though, and thus more enjoyable to explore.

And once again, I craned my neck to marvel at the ceilings, not just in some of the rooms but in every single room.

We had lunch in the museum café, and then spent the afternoon – another beautiful, sunny one – exploring the terraced 111-acre Boboli Gardens behind the Pitti Palace, established by the Medicis and famous for the Fountain of Neptune.  The crowded streets of Florence seemed a world away up here in this huge green sanctuary.

For dinner, we decided on Osteria il Giglio D’Oro, not far from our Airbnb.  Like Bistrot 74, the restaurant was reasonably priced, and we often economized by sharing entrées.  The food in all of the places we tried thus far was unfailingly delicious, the service was good, and no gratuities are expected.