Pitti Palace

Today was the Pitti Palace. Talk about a monstrosity of excess. Again, more beautiful paintings than I can remember. Alot of Rafaels, Titians, Van Dyks and more. Many rooms though it was a terrible shame to cover up any of the walls as the paintings, wall coverings, ceilings, frescos and carvings were far superior to what was on the canvas. There were marble tables in every room that were pictures done in colored inlaid marble that were incredible in detail. It's hard to believe that they were made without the benefit of modern tools. there were supposed to be Rembrants there but I didn't see them. Several paintings were out for restoration.

Beck crashed about halfway through and had to be carried. Fortunately John found benches to park on for a while and he was not as interested as I was in everything. He could take in a room in a few minutes while I had to stop, read the little card for each room and then go back and look at each painting, table, and then stare at the ceiling for a while. He was able to sit with Delaney and Carina for a while, then catch up. He handed Beck off to me and the little brat immediately woke up and decided to walk.

We ate lunch at the cafe at the palace which was nothing to write home about. It might have been good but we arrived at the end of the serving time so the pickings were slim. I did have a ham and cheese sandwhich with some kind of olive spread that was ok but not what I really wanted. It was a place to sit down though and it was looking rainy and spitting a bit so it was a good rest at least.

After that we walked across the Ponte Vecchio. We took advantage of the fact that the sun was covered a bit and took pictures. We're trying to find a place online to download some pictures now.