It rained almost all day today. I crossed the Ponte Vecchio this morning to get to the Palazzo Pitti and met Geri there. We walked around the Boboli gardens (not as lush as I imagined them to be) and looked at the costume museum. She left to go buy shoes and I explored the Galleria Palatina, red rooms decked floor to ceiling with fancy gold framed paintings. There were a few gems, a couple Botticellis, quite a few Raphael's, a Caravaggio, a piece by Artemesia Gentileschi. Then there were all the rooms of the Appartamenti Reali, very gaudy, with silk curtains and walls, each room a different color: blue, yellow, red, green. Geri and I met back up, it was pouring and we weren't sure what to do next, so we headed to her hostel to hang out, got soaked on the way, despite our (fashionable) ponchos. We decided to get lunch, even though we'd both eaten a little at the Pitti. We went to a restaurant near her hostel, and as we were being seated, she must have hit one of the bottles of wine on the shelf behind her with her bag and the whole thing went crashing to the floor. She felt awful, and the waitresses were not pleased. Needless to say we did not have the best service after that, though it seemed like no one in that restaurant was getting good service. The food was good, I was able to finally try ribollita, which was delicious! That, along with some bruschetta and a glass of red wine was filling and warming after being soaked. A little too filling. We parted, and as I planned on heading back to my hostel, the sky started to clear and the sun came back out, so I took advantage of the break in the weather and headed to Piazzale Michelangelo ( I also needed to walk off all that food!). The view was especially amazing because of the post-storm light. Just when I was feeling slightly frustrated with Florence and the weather, she surprised me again with her beauty. I then climbed further to the Basilica di San Miniato al Monte (as well as a peak into the Fransiscan church nearby). It looked like mass was about to start, but I was lucky to explore the church for a little: beautiful interior, mosaic apse, chapel below, divine light coming in through the windows, and more lovely views of Florence from outside the entrance. I made my way back down the hill, along the Arno, through Piazza della Signoria, past the Duomo, and back to the hostel, before the rain came again.
