Florence - Uffizi and Accademia Galleries

Florence has an almost untold number of galleries in the central part of town. But the two main galleries are the Uffizi and Accademia galleries. Unlike the British National Gallery and the Louvre, the galleries in Florence tend to be a bit smaller. It was suggested to us that we book our tickets in advance so that we don't have to wait in the loooooong lines in front of the galleries. Luckily our hotel was above to book the tickets so all we had to do was pick them up and head inside.

The Uffizi has a wide-ranging collection: Michelangelo, Raphael, Fra Lippi, Caravaggio, da Vinci, etc. The Virtual Ufizi website includes a picture of every work of art in the gallery arranged by room. Outside the gallery is almost a circus atmosphere. There is a long line (without reservations) to get in. A large number of artists selling their own paintings of Florence and a few unlicensed vendors. The Carabinieri are there to play cat-and-mouse with the unlicensed vendors.

The Accademia gallery has a smaller collection but the major attraction there is, without a doubt, Michelangelo's David. After walking down a corridor of unfinished Michelangelo works you get to David, all 4m (~ 14 ft) of him. The workers are very strict in not allowing any pictures but the detail of David was simply amazing. Outside this gallery the line was very festive. There was a group of students from Spain, I believe, singing and dancing while waiting for the non-reservation line to inch forward.