Botticelli, Boccadama and the breeze

Finally.
Today I made it to the Uffizi Gallery for the first time.
Created as offices for the judges of Florence back in 1581, (hence the name - uffici in Italian means offices) it was used by the omnipresent Medicis to show off their collection of art - making it the oldest art gallery in the world.
With all such galleries (think National Gallery in London, the Louvre in Paris etc) its a behemoth, and better perhaps not to follow the arrows from room to room with military-like precision with map in hand, or worse clutching one of the audio guides (there were a collection of miserable looking couples walking around with the black wands of extra information) but preferable to follow your interests. I make no apologies for enjoying the big hitters of the art world - starting with Botticelli's Spring, Birth of Venus (and more or less all of his others too - the man was a genius). Also much loved by me - Piero della Francesca's realistic portraits of the Duke of Urbino and his wife, with the Duke sporting the broken nose he really had - realism at its best.
Some of the sculpture galleries were fabulous too, and the ceiling of the galleries, flooded with light, and surrounded by stunning views, were gorgeous. The views from the terrace outside the bar were also pretty fab, and worth the trip outside in the cold.
But to paraphrase, man cannot live by art alone, and after sumptuous art, it was sumptuous food we were after. having tried and failed to get a table in the Lebanese restaurant I found the other day, and with the same story in the Birreria Centrale (we have booked for Monday) we ended up in Boccadama, in Piazza Santa Croce, a lovely little place that I found one day on my Friday afternoon wanderings. The meal was fantastic, and fairly priced - in the expected price zone - and the service was super too. Really recommended.
The only downside after being looked after so well in the warm for a few hours was struggling back out into the breeze which is currently cooling Florence down nicely. The weather forecast says it comes to us directly from the arctic, somthing that given the temperature I am not going to dispute.