First snow in Bologna this year
Monday, January 4, 2010
Galleria degli Uffizi (2010-01-02)
I was very disappointed at my visit to the Galleria degli Uffizi.
Firstly, it was such a hassle to acquire a ticket - the online e-ticket website didn't work for quite a few days, and no one answered the telephone booking line from 24-27 December 2009.
My ticket said my visit was scheduled for 2.30 PM on 2 January 2010. When arriving at the gallery at 2pm, there was several queues. One needed to ask what the queues were for. For example, there was one for entering the gallery, and one for buying the ticket. We were told that if we didn't book the ticket in advance (booking fee 4 EUR), we needed to wait in line for nearly 4 hours (i.e. no chance of visiting the gallery today because it closes at 6.30 pm).
Even if your entry was scheduled for 2.30pm and you arrived 30 minutes earlier, you needed to wait in the line for at least 40 minutes, like me (and I was told 40 minutes waiting time was normal and I should consider myself lucky). Tourist groups had the privilege to jump the queue. In fact, there were three American girls queuing in front of me earlier, and after realising they needed to buy tickets first, they disappeared. But I recognised them in another tourist group arranged to enter the gallery earlier than me. Some people were selling tickets to those waiting to get tickets with a sign that "With 25 EUR, you can visit the gallery and jump the queue." It was a mess - I took several photos.
I took no photos inside the gallery because it was not allowed (Although there were many people taking photos, and from time to time you hear the guarding women shouting from her seat "No Foto" to I don't know whom. The gallery was so badly curated that you wondered whether this is really a world famous top museum. There was only one painting from Michelangelo in the room dedicated to Michelangelo. The lighting in the room exhibiting Botticelli's work was so bad that you could hardly feel the wonders that Botticellis created. Some paintings were without labels / explanations. Most of the explanations were about when the gallery acquired the paintings, instead of the incentives for the artists to create the work and its meaning.
The whole Uffizi felt like a playground: badly organised entrance, randomly placed paintings, lots of visitors chatting, kissing, taking photos. At 6.30 PM, we were all asked to be out.
I've never liked Florence: too many people, too dirty, too messy, too unorganised. But I'd never been to Uffizi until now (that's usually why people said - "Oh you don't like Florence because you haven't been to Uffizi".) Now I'm sure that I really don't like Florence and I'm glad I have no plan to return to that place any time soon.
For those who still want to see Uffizi after reading my unpleasant experience, here are some suggestions:
1. Book your ticket by telephone instead of via the website: the website only gives you options in the afternoon (after 12pm), and only tickets a week after are available. Make a telephone booking would allow you to visit the gallery in the morning and on the next immediate day.
2. Arrive early - no matter how late your appointment is, go to the gallery and queue early. The queue is shorter in the morning. You would enjoy the Uffizi better in the morning because there are less visitors.
3. Bring a guidebook with you - the explanations / labels provided by the gallery were either incomprehensible or insufficient. It's better to bring a book with you so you understand the art better.
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