Birthday celebration. 12/23/18

Today we are going to have my birthday celebration and I am really looking forward to it. I have made reservations at Il Pennello. We will meet there at 1 PM.

Jon and Ryan scurry off to the Accademia to see the David and the other earlier works in the morning.

Ryan and Jon on their way to the Accademia
Look who is there!

Sarah and John spend time this morning trying to find bagels for Christmas breakfast. The website says that Mama’s Bakery is open but when they get there they find it is closed until January 7. Bummer. They go to the the Mercato Centrale and the Conrad but these stores do not carry bagels. We will have to come up with Plan B.

Back to the birthday celebrations…

We go to Il Pennello for our 1 PM dinner. We are eating early in the day because it is Sunday and the restaurants will be closing for dinner.

Il Pennello

I get to sit between Jon and Sarah while John and Ryan sit across from us. We all order wine.

Mary with Jon and Sarah
John inspecting some antipasti
Ryan with a glass of white wine

Everyone has brought me birthday cards! I love it! It is possible that I reminded everyone to put cards in their suitcases.

Birthday cards!

We order a wide variety of things to eat.

clockwise from left: Ribbolita, spaghetti with spicy tomato sauce, pici with sausage, onion soup, penne straccicate
Also from bottom: braised beef, white beans, fried veggies, trippa Fiorentina, veal scallopine with artichokes
Here we are outside after lunch and we have not exploded!

This was my best birthday ever!!!

After lunch Ryan and Jon head off for the Galileo Museum, the Baptistry, and climb the campanile. They have so much energy!

Astrolabe from the Galileo Museum
Interior of Baptistry dome
Ryan and Jon at the top of the Campanile
View of the Duomo from the Campanile

John, Sarah, and I head for the Accademia. Here are some things we enjoy-

Nuptial parade painted by Scheggia, the younger brother of Masaccio, circa 1450
“The Virgin of the Sea” painter may be Botticelli or Filippino Lippi, 1475-80
Annunciation, Neri di Bicci, 1465
“Tobias and the Three Archangels” painted in the International Gothic style by Domenico di Michelino, 1465
John, Sarah, and other art lovers admiring Michelangelo’s “Prisoners” and heading toward “David”
Can there be too many Davids in one post? I do not think so.
Who doesn’t love these old Byzantine paintings! Unknown provenance, circa 1250

At this point John and Sarah go upstairs to do more appreciating and I take a seat behind the statue of David appreciating his butt and watching other appreciators. They are gone a looong time.  When they finally reappear I have been texting them for quite a while. Unfortunately, the texts never reached them.

Since we are all quite full from our big lunch we just pick over our salami, chopped liver, cheese, and chips for dinner.

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