Ponte Vecchio, a Medieval bridge over the Arno River, in Florence, noted for still having shops built along it, as was once common. These shops were initially occupied by the butchers but now the tenants are jewelers, art dealers and souvenir sellers. Ponte Vecchio was the only bridge left undestroyed by Germans during their retreat of August 4, 1944 during World War II, unlike all other bridges in Florence.
The bridge is always very crowded with tourist, not so much of shopping for the gold / jewelries but more to step foot and take a photo on this historic structure. The centre of the bridge is an open space without any shops but a statue of Cellini. The shops are centuries-old and hence the doors remained as wooden panels. I liked taking photos from the riverside so the photo shows the colorful back-shops added in the 17th century. On Sunday morning we were queuing up for the Uffizi and as usual Bel was left waiting in the queue while I went to take the Ponte Vecchio in the morning sun, I was thrilled to find the Arno river so calm and quite, the sky so blue that Ponte Vecchio was reflected flawlessly on the river water. I quickly took many shots and return to the queue so that Bel can go get her share of photo shots. 
Uffizi
The Uffizi gallery is one of the oldest and most famous art museums in the world. We finally made it into the gallery on the 3rd attempt of waiting in the very long and slow moving queue. Our 1st attempt is on Saturday afternoon after the Accademia gallery, we were at the very end of the queue and after surveying the situation, we decided to come back next morning. So on Sunday morning we went and again we are still at the very end of the line. As mentioned, we took turns taking photos of the Vecchio on that beautiful morning. When Bel returns, we thought that it’s a shame to waste this perfect fine day indoors and so we decided to go up Piazzale Michelangelo instead. That afternoon, we came back and waited patiently at the line although again we are still at the end of the line.
There’s a Chinese couple in front of us and from their accent we guess they are from the states. Since the queue is moving very slowly, so Bel and I took turns to go get our daily gelato fix. Bel went first and while she was away, I overheard the couple’s conversation (it’s not exact but it’s more or less like this).
Guy: Hmm this is really taking a long time. The queue is not moving at all.
Gal: Yeah, I wonder how long we need to wait further.
Guy: Well, do you wanna wait further or do you want to go somewhere else?
Gal: Erm… I don’t know. Up to you.
Guy: But do you want to wait any longer? I give you the choice.
Gal: What do you mean you give me the choice? Why do I need to decide?
Guy: Well you are the one who wanted to come here. So you decide. What is this gallery about anyway?
Gal: Well its an art gallery lah… I also don’t know why so many people are queuing to go in. Don’t know what its famous for.
So in the end, they dropped out the line and walked away. I told Bel about this when she got back and we had a good laugh over it as we thought we were bad that we haven’t got a lot information about the gallery but at least we knew we surely out beat that couple ;o)
So we finally got into the gallery and again were very impressed about the paintings and sculptures there without having much knowledge about their painters and backgrounds. And again we try to learn more by ‘overhearing’ the explanations from the tour guides there.
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