Florence: Uffizi, Accademia & Ponte Vecchio

Among the many attractions in Florence the most popular are the Uffizi Gallery, the Accademia and Ponte Vecchio.

The most important tip before you go to Florence is to buy your tickets to Uffizi and Accademia online and way in advance. I bought our tickets and audio guide from TickItaly more than a month before leaving Manila. I was able to choose the date and time of entry. This site let me print all our tickets which we just showed at the venues.

Uffizi ticket

Cameras were not allowed in both venues but I managed to take some shots using my iPhone 4s. The Uffizi Gallery was huge and the number of art works left me amazed and dazed.

Uffizi Gallery

The beauty of our B&B’s location was it was walking distance to all the attractions, shopping and restaurants. Right after the Uffizi we went directly to the Accademia. Even though we had tickets already we still had to wait in line for a few minutes. Imagine the line for those without tickets.

lines at the Accademia

And this is the reason for the long lines, Michelangelo’s David. The detail was definitely impressive when seen up close.

Michelangelo’s David

Michelangelo’s David, pink and blond,  by Hans Peter Feldmann

Our next stop was Ponte Vecchio.

We passed by some stall selling leather goods which I suspect were made in China.

I took these pictures of the Ponte Vecchio from a window in the Uffizi which had the perfect vantage point.

You can see the reflection on the glass. The Ponte Vecchio is a medieval arch stone bridge on the Arno river lined with jewelry shops.

The first store I saw was T. Ristori and I was attracted by their display of Marco Bicego jewelry which I’ve admired for a long time.

According to Angela they are the only store in Ponte Vecchio who sells Marco Bicego jewelry.

I was able to buy earrings made by the designer Mr. Daniele, pictured below, for the Ponte Vecchio Gioielli brand. He just happened to be there so I had a photo op with him.