Day 7 - The Palace Life
View of the Boboli Gardens from Pitti Palace
June 28, 2023: Can you imagine living in a palace in the mid-16th century? We had a taste of what it might be like as we toured the Pitti Palace today. The original nucleus of the building dates back to 1458. It was the urban residence of the banker Luca Pitti. The palace was then bought by the Medici family in 1549 and became the main residence of the grand dukes of Tuscany. Following the unification of Italy , it played the role of royal palace for the House of Savoyin the five years in which Florence was the capital of the Kingdom of Italy (1865-70). In 1919, it was donated to the state by Vittoria Emmanuele III. It has been a state museum ever since. Today, it houses an amazing collection of sculptures, paintings and other artwork. I was most impressed by the ceilings of the palace which you can see in the photos under Italy 2023.
After a tour of the palace, we walked through the Boboli Gardens. The garden, which welcomes over 800,000 visitors every year, is one of the most important examples of Italian gardens in the world, due to the architectural-landscape setting and the collection of sculptures ranging from from Roman antiquity to the 20th century.
After a morning of history and amazing artwork, we grabbed paninis from Pitti Express and headed back to our apartment to cool off. I had booked a wine tasting with a sommelier at 5:00PM at place called Le Volpi e l’Uva which translates to the foxes and the grapes. Le Volpi e l'Uva was opened in 1992 by Emilio Monechi, Riccardo Comparini, and Ciro Beligni with the intention of cultivating relationships with small wine producers and creating a locale where wine is accessible to all. 25 years ago this approach was an entirely new way of buying, selling, and presenting wine in Florence. They buy directly from winemakers and understand the philosophy behind eat wine. Our sommelier was extremely knowledgeable as well as friendly an approachable. It was an amazing experience and we walk away with 4 bottles of wine!
Our final stop was another rooftop bar called “Emperio Rooftop View Bar & Pool”. It also had an amazing view of the city but one that included the Arno River and Piazza Michelango in the distance. We had an apertivo and a snack and then headed back to our apartment. All in all an amazing day.
Jimm Rating: *****