A low, dark sky threatening rain didn't deter us from our appointment at the Academy of Art. We were to collect our tickets no later than 11:15 across the road from the academy. It's a 30-minute walk (for someone young and fit we figured) and to give us time to find the person we'd been told would be holding a sign, 'Guided Tour', we set off at 9:45. We arrived there at 10:35, along with great crowds of people so had a coffee in a small bar while we waited.
At 11 a.m. we set off to find our guide. Not surprisingly, there was no-one with a sign. We did see a few people with lists, handing out tickets, so approached these people until we found someone who had our name on their list. Tickets in hand, we were told to join a queue to the right of those people who were waiting at a door for 'unreserved' tickets. We chatted to a couple in front of us, she from England, he from France; they had booked with the same group. Our line moved slowly forward and slightly before 11:30, our reserved time, we were at the entrance. Once inside, we and that same couple looked for 'our guide' as we passed through security. Further in, lots of groups with leaders, but not for us. We gave up then and just wandered.
I'd been to the academy in 2007 but was looking forward to seeing the exhibits again. There were changes of course, but it was as stunning as before. Many of the sculptures are copies, with the originals on display in various other places around Florence, but these copies are as detailed as the originals, and viewing them in one place saves a lot of shoe leather.
David, of course, is a different story. The statue in the academy is the original, with the others you find dotted around Florence, mere copies - and nowhere near as wonderful as the original. The musculature detail, the veins visible beneath, the warmth of the marble, all conspire to make you believe that this man could, at any moment, step down from his pedestal to join the throngs surrounding him. No photo can do him justice.
We continued on our way, studying hundreds of plaster casts of other works and then toured gallery after gallery of paintings from the 13th to the 17th century. There were altar pieces, books and letters, plus much more. We were allowed to take photos of some of the statues but it was forbidden in most areas.
There was an interesting annexe to the gallery, housing musical instruments from the Medici era up to more recent times. When I last visited the gallery, there had also been screens where one could sit and learn about the costumes and culture of the various eras, but this wasn't the case for this visit.
We left the gallery soon after one and walked home in the rain. It was soft rain, not torrential as we are used to, so not a problem. It was cold and a bit windy though so we were glad to arrive home.
Once home, I emailed the company we'd bought our reserved tickets from, to complain about the problems we had. They answered me almost immediately, apologising and giving us a refund of their fee, which is something I guess. They added that we hadn't booked a guided tour, just paid for the entry tickets. I replied, telling them that in that case, they need to find someone whose English is a little better because on their web site they use the words 'guided tour' and that obviously means something else in Italian!
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