Florence 2018: Outside the Uffizi Gallery

Right off of Piazza della Signoria is the Uffizi Gallery. My parents and I would be going into the Uffizi on another day so this time we just passed through underneath it. The Uffizi Gallery is inside an elevated “U” shaped building that used to be a palace and during peak tourism season you can see rivers of tourists passing beneath it. Since we were visiting in late November there weren’t as many people walking around and it was easier for me to catch a gap in the crowds to take today’s photo. When we came out on the south side of the building we were next to the Arno River and close to the Ponte Vecchio Bridge. From there we’d continue on towards our main destination of the day, Piazzale Michelangelo, which will be the subject of the next Florence 2018 photo on Friday.

In the lower right of the photo you’ll notice that there’s an armored vehicle and a few soldiers standing around. During my previous two trips to Florence in 2012 and 2015 there were no soldiers on patrol in the city and their presence outside the Uffizi and other attractions, while reassuring, is an unfortunate reminder of the growing security needs in much of Europe.