'Visit Florence!' Elon Musk hails Italian city on family vacation
EXCLUSIVE: ‘Visit Florence!’ Elon Musk hails Italian city as he, his girlfriend Grimes and his teenage sons enjoy a private tour of its famed Uffizi Gallery
- The Tesla founder was in Florence on Sunday with his family and in Berlin for meetings on Wednesday
- Musk, who turned 50 in June, was joined by his Canadian girlfriend Grimes, 33, for their European jaunt
- Their one-year-old son, X Æ A-12, was not seen but three of his five teenage sons were pictured with their father and his singer girlfriend at the Uffizi
- The group was shown around the famed museum by the mayor of Florence and the museum’s director
- The mayor posted a clip to Twitter of the South African billionaire saying in Italian: ‘Visit Florence!’
- Musk and his family later on Sunday enjoyed dinner at a 130-year-old Florentine restaurant in a cavern beneath the city
- On Wednesday Musk was in Germany for a series of meetings as he works to open a $6.9 billion Tesla factory near Berlin
Elon Musk has been spotted on holiday with his family in Italy, where the Tesla founder was treated to a private tour of Florence’s Uffizi Gallery.
Musk, who turned 50 on June 28, is reportedly renting a villa in Tuscany.
On Sunday the mayor of Florence, Dario Nardella, accompanied Musk, his girlfriend Grimes, 33, and at least three of his five teenage sons to the Uffizi.
The group was shown around by the museum’s director, Eike Schmidt, and Nardella and Musk filmed a video clip, in which Musk says, in Italian: ‘Visit Florence!’
Elon Musk was spotted on Sunday in Florence, with his pink-haired girlfriend Grimes. Musk, Grimes and several of his teenage sons had earlier toured the celebrated Uffizi Gallery
Musk and Grimes are pictured with officials and, far right, several of his teenage sons. Musk is a father of six – 17-year-old twin sons, Griffin and Xavier and 15-year-old triplets, Kai, Saxon, and Damian, with his ex-wife Justine Wilson, and one-year-old son X Æ A-12, with Grimes
The Uffizi Gallery in Florence is considered one of the world’s greatest museums, and is full of Renaissance treasures
Musk and the mayor, Dario Nardella, are seen inside the museum in a video posted to Nardella’s Twitter account
During their 90 minute visit, the group admired works by Beato Angelico and Piero della Francesca, according to the museum, as well as Uccello’s Battle of San Romano and some of the best of Botticelli, Michelangelo and Leonardo.
Schmidt joked that when Musk sets up a space station on Mars, the museum will be able to add an interplanetary dimension to its regional loans program.
After their visit, the group went for dinner at Buca Mario restaurant, which opened in 1886 in a cavern, known as a buca.
Musk and Grimes’s son, X Æ A-12, born in May 2020, was not seen.
Musk, Grimes, his children and their entourage are pictured on Sunday evening in Florence, having flown in from Los Angeles the day before
Grimes, 33, is seen with one of her 50-year-old boyfriend’s five teenage sons. He has 17-year-old twins and 15-year-old triplets
The group were all holding what appeared to be guides to the Tuscan city
Musk, the second richest man behind Jeff Bezos, who is currently worth $184 billion, was accompanied by a significant security detail
The group were believed to have rented a villa in the Tuscan countryside surrounding Florence
Musk, the world’s second richest man with a $184 billion fortune, has six other children.
In 2000 he married Canadian author Justine Wilson, and two years later the couple had a son, Nevada, who died at the age of 10 weeks.
His twins Griffin and Xavier were born in 2004 and in 2006 Wilson had triplets – Damian, Saxon and Kai.
The couple divorced in 2008.
From 2010-12, and 2013-16, Musk was married to British actress Talulah Riley, 35, but the pair did not have any children.
In May 2018 he began dating Grimes, real name Claire Boucher, after a flirtation on Twitter.
It was unclear why Musk was in Florence, but his visit comes a little over a month before his participation in Italian Tech Week which will take place in Turin on September 23-24.
Musk flew into Europe from Los Angeles on Saturday, with stops in Italy followed by Germany
The tech billionaire, seen being greeted by officials in Florence, combined business with pleasure on his European break
Musk and his family were whisked away in waiting vehicles after their Sunday stroll through the Italian city
Website ItalyNews24 pointed out that Florence is only eight miles from Campi Bisenzio, where the Leonardo Group has its headquarters.
The company is working with NASA to return astronauts to the moon, and with the Russian Space Agency to send a rover to Mars.
On Wednesday Musk was in Berlin, where he met with the leadership of Brandenburg, the German state where the group’s $6.9 billion European gigafactory is being built.
Germany’s economy minister, Joerg Steinbach, posted a photo of Musk along with the tweet, and said the meeting was also attended by Brandenburg’s state premier Dietmar Woidke.
‘Very relaxed evening meeting with @elonmusk, D. Woidke, co-workers on both sides and myself,’ he said.
‘In an atmosphere of mutual trust we discussed the remaining tasks.
‘Thanks to you and your great family for this visit, Elon!’
Steinbach’s comments come after public flight data had earlier shown the arrival of Musk’s jet in Germany, where Tesla is facing delays in trying to bring the new manufacturing site on stream.
Germany’s economy minister tweeted: ‘Very relaxed evening meeting with @elonmusk, D. Woidke, co-workers on both sides and myself. In an atmosphere of mutual trust we discussed the remaining tasks. Thanks to you and your great family for this visit, Elon!’
Armin Laschet, the conservative candidate to succeed Angela Merkel as chancellor, is scheduled to visit Tesla’s site, located in Gruenheide near Berlin, on Friday to meet with local staff as part of his election campaign.
Due to environmental resistance and red tape, it remains unclear when the first vehicles will roll off the production line at the site.
Tesla has already pushed back the expected opening to late 2021. The environmental agency in Brandenburg has yet to give final approval – meaning a further delay cannot be ruled out, even into 2022.
Musk has regularly travelled to Germany to check on the plant’s progress and during a visit in May criticized Germany’s bureaucracy.
‘It’s gonna be awesome,’ Musk said on Twitter on Wednesday, in response to a tweet that cited an article saying that public opposition to the plant was declining.
Source: Read Full Article