STL DPB ON THE ROAD - REASONS FOR NOT GOING TO THE UFIZZI

Day trip to Florence yesterday. I'll spare you the details of how bad a job Google Maps did on the tiny, twisted streets of the city center and how lost we got just trying to find parking. Anyway, I really wanted to go to the Galleria degli Ufizzi.It was as crowded as the Louvre in mid-summer or the Metropolitan in New York during Christmas week. Arguably not worth the effort.

I remember the other time I saw Botticelli's Birth of Venus here, perhaps 25 years ago. I don't remember the season but the place wasn't crowded. I stood in rapture for a long time in front of this work until a guard jabbered at me in Italian because an Asian tour group couldn't see through/around tall me.  At some point this gets so tiring that I can't absorb any more.    

Tourists

Well, that's what we are. You could think of it as broadening your experience, making for a richer life. Or, you could think of it as fly-in, fly-out voyeurism. I suppose there is some of both but I'll tell you, being there is a whole lot better than looking at these photos.