Pitti Palace and Boboli Gardens

Our apartment in Florence was advertised as being "near Boboli Gardens."  Though we had never heard of them before getting to Florence, Erin and I both really like the outdoors so we were excited that we were going to be so close to a nice outdoor space!  Little did we know how wonderful Boboli Gardens was going to be, and I am so happy we decided on the apartment we did because we spent a lot of time at Pitti Palace and the gardens behind it!





Pitti Palace was about a 5 minute walk from our apartment, and was between our place and the center of Florence, so even on days we didn't go in we passed by Pitti.
In front of the Palace (or Palazzo to be a little more Italian) is a huge Piazza where people sit and eat and relax.  It's a great place to sit and people watch.  It's also a great place to sit and enjoy a drink from one of the little grocery stores, as Italy doesn't have open container laws so you can enjoy a beer or a bottle of wine outside on the Piazza :)  Italy is a great place!

The Gardens behind Pitti Palace have some of the best views of Florence and the Duomo in the whole city.  Right when you walk into the garden you can see this amazing view and there are several great spots that give you different views of downtown throughout the Gardens.

Triton Fountain in the huge amphitheater courtyard

map of the gardens

Spot the Statue!

The gardens are huge, and are filled with hedges like mazes and tons of different walk ways.  You could go there a thousand times and never walk the same way twice.  It's great because there are some places that are huge and open, with fountains and statues, and other places that are quiet and secluded that make you feel like you're in a secret garden and are a great place to lay down and read a book or even take a nap!

Looking back at Pitti Palace 

The paths are so beautiful and the trees make archways to walk through

There are all kinds of Statues in the Gardens, everything from classic statues of people in robes to statues of dogs, to modern egg shaped sculptures, even a giant face!  It was an interesting mix.

Some of the statues were a little rowdy 

   

In the back area of Boboli Gardens you climb this staircase to find another garden area that has beautiful views of the area of Florence behind Pitti Palace, and you can see olive and grape vineyards, cypress trees, Florentine farmhouses, and even what looks like a castle up on the hill.  Also back there is a porcelain museum with some pretty pieces in it.  Some of the pieces reminded me of my Grandma's china and we found some pieces that were Wedgewood, a kind of china we always get for my other grandma at Christmas!  

Wedgewood

looks like Mamo's china

Chandelier in the Porcelain Museum

As we were walking along one of the paths in the garden we spotted a kitten!  Later we saw quite a few cats hanging around the gardens but we were surprised to see this first one!  

One of my favorite parts of the garden is this path that has trees bent over it into an arch.  It goes on and on and is so peaceful to walk through (we usually chose that way when walking back up from the big fountain below as it connected back to the main courtyard).

tree arch walk way

The other great thing about Pitti Palace are the museums in the Palace itself.  It has about 5 different museums in it and contains a very wide range of things, from traditional art and sculptures, to a "treasure museum" with all sorts of trinkets and jewelry and more, to a costume gallery, a modern art museum and also the royal apartments, which were once home to the Medici Family.  We don't have very many pictures of the inside of the palace, but its really amazing, the ceilings and walls are covered in fabrics, paintings, and gold leaf, there are giant chandeliers in every room, ornate clocks, chairs, and tables, all of which are really amazing to see.

One of Erin and my favorite things were these "vassi torniti"  I think that means "turned vases" and I'm not exactly sure what they were for, but they were awesome to look at.  Each one had different details, some of them looked like they were off balance and shouldn't be able to stand up, and some had carved decorations so intricate I'm pretty sure it had to be done with a microscope. They were amazing and surreal like a page out of Alice in Wonderland or something.

Mom we found you an elephant!

Another impressive thing in Pitti Palace are the amazing Chandeliers.  Florence in general seems to have fabulous chandeliers everywhere, but man oh man they have some seriously beautiful ones in that place!

View from inside Pitti looking out to the Boboli Gardens Entrance

The Duomo from a window in the Modern Art Museum

leaving through the "grand staircase"

Like I said, we spent a lot of time at Boboli Gardens while we were in Florence, and sometimes we would just go and wander through the garden paths, or find a spot to sit and read (or play games on the ipad)  This was a favorite spot we had, it was a little clearing with a huge tree in it, a couple benches along the edge and grass that was perfect for relaxing in :)  

Here's a few more spots where we liked to relax and pass the time

The gardens also have some pretty cool Grottos in them, the one on the left is the largest one, and the one on the right is a smaller one with a statue of Adam and Eve.

And last but not least, as you are leaving Boboli Gardens and going back out onto the Piazza you pass by this guy.  

Moral of the story, if you find yourself in Florence, don't miss Pitti Palace and Boboli Gardens.  The lady we talked to when we bought our Florence cards said they are under-visited and people often skip them but they were my favorite place in Florence!