Day 16 – A long bus ride… the Uffizi… and Boo Boo’s birthday

Staying a hostel has some distinct advantages… however, it’s been a long time since I slept in a bunkbed.  Our room (The Principal, myself, and the boys) consists of 2 sets of bunkbeds, a half bath (sink & toilet), a 2^nd half bath (shower & sink), and a table/stool.  It’s on the 2^nd floor, and we get to utilize the first elevator I’ve seen in 2 weeks.  The other two rooms we rented are on the main floor, just as far from the elevator, but only one set of bunkbeds and only 1 full bath.  We had chosen our particular room b/c the 4 of us have the least trouble with luggage on stairs and didn’t realize that there was an elevator.  It turns out, being on the 2^nd floor meant that we avoided all the teenaged/college age party traffic that went up and down that main hall until after midnight.

Boo Boo woke up singing “Happy Birthday to Me”… and the rest of us woke up and wished him a Happy Birthday.  Yes, I now have TWO 13 y.o.’s for a month.  This promises to be another huge adventure.

A full breakfast (first bacon & eggs I’ve seen in 2 weeks also) and we’re off to the Uffizi.  It’s a bus ride… but, since the buses were purchased by a new company and the Principal can’t download the new app for the schedule we’re a bit stuck.  We make it to the main station… and none of THOSE posters are updated either.  Thankfully, straight across the street is the Informazioni office… and they not only speak English, ,but have an updated schedule.  We would eventually figure out that they really shouldn’t use the same color blue for more than one bus number… but, it’s Italy… they’re known for a lot of things, but organization isn’t one of them.  The Magic Homeschool Bus + FIL make an educated guess.

Our bus ride takes us on a loop that passes by the bus stop we got on… and then loops around again in the other direction and we eventually bail out at the Piazza di Signora and take a look around.  Unlike last time, the Uffizi line isn’t ‘negligible’.  It doesn’t wrap around the block either… but it’s a good 90 minute wait to get in.  They only let in so many people at a time to buy tickets… and everybody else waits outside.  We send a few people off to get a few paninis and some Fanta, eat a late lunch and make it inside around 1pm.

The Principal had downloaded an audio tour from Rick Steves that walked you through much of the main “stuff” through the Uffizi.  Of the 50 rooms, there are about 2 “Pre Renaissance” rooms about 2 “Post Renaissance” rooms… and everything else is from the 16^th century.  A few rooms were closed for renovations, but the kids did a great job of recognizing much of the more famous art and listening to the audio tour helped them appreciate more of what they were seeing.  I highly recommend an audio tour.  All the good museums offer them and you can really get a lot out of them if you have the time and an extra few Euros.  Of course, “Free” with a couple of splitters & extra headphones has the added benefit of being within budget AND keeping everybody tethered together – ROFL!

Spending 2 hours wandering around the Uffizi likely wasn’t how Boo Boo had intended to spend his first day as a teenager, but we make our way through getting a couple of pictures in the only areas available for photos and decide that the view of the Ponte Vecchio from the Uffizi would satisfy that requirement also.  I prefer to see it at sunset… but we’re FAR too early for sunset, and we’re not likely to buy anything from the gold merchants there anyway… we’ll head back to the apartment.

One last load of laundry (YEA for Maytag) and we spend a little time online, start packing, etc.  MIL had purchased a small Nutella cake for Boo Boo’s birthday… and many of us ordered a cheeseburger & fries for dinner.  It was our first American food in 2 weeks… and the birthday boy could order what he wanted.

It’s truly unbelievable how much he’s grown up just in the last year.  He’s really maturing into a young man.  We are so blessed to have him with us as he adds so much to our lives.