The Disney Magic at La Spezia
On the tender into port.
A pretty tower with an architectural problem.
The baptistery in Pisa
Church in Florence
Statue of Neptune in Florence. He has a look of disdain because there is not enough water to run the fountain. This is a picture of the horses below his feet.
Karen on the Ponte Vecchio bridge in Florence.
An artist draws on the sidewalk in Florence.
A church, bell tower and baptistery in Florence.
In Florence, Italy
We woke up at the crack of dawn and there was a message light on the phone. The shore excursion desk offered to let 1 person out of their tour, so my Mom volunteered so we could go to Florence and Pisa. Peyton was thrilled, but I had mixed emotions, I was really NOT looking forward to spending 10 hours on a bus, but I did not want Patrick to have to go by himself. Oh well, it worked out for Peyton.
We got on a BUS, and I promptly fell asleep. We did have a quick stop at a glorified gas station for snacks and a restroom break. I had a nice croissant and Patrick got some cookies. Back on the bus for another hour where we drove through some of the most beautiful countryside I have ever seen. When we finally arrived in Florence (the capital of Tuscany), it was a beautiful crisp sunny day. The guide we had was named Luca – he was wonderful! You could tell he truly loved his city of Florence and gave us a wonderful background of the area. We saw the bell tower, church (Basilica di Saint Maria del Fiore) and baptistery that were made entirely of marble. They had three different colors of marble. The white stands for faith, the green stands for hope and the pink stands for charity. He also showed us a bronze door that was covered in 24 karat gold – very beautiful. We then walked to the Ponte Vecchio bridge and got a beautiful view of the river. On the way, there was a bronze statue of a wild boar in the corner where the ledgend has it if you put a coin in his mouth and it falls to the grate, you will have good luck. We then strolled over to where there was a copy of the David statue as well as a statue of Perseus slaying Medusa in bronze (by Cellini). I must admit that Florence really is a beautiful city. I am SO glad that we did not get out of the tour, it was really such a wonderful city. After the statues, we got to see the church (I think it was Santa Croce Square) where many famous people were buried – Dante, Galileo, the two men who built the gold doors to the church, Cellini and Michelangelo.
There are lots of street vendors around selling pictures. We were told that it was illegal to buy anything off ‘the floor’. The pictures were very pretty, but we quickly learned they were mass produced when we noticed that nearly everyone had the same image! There were some ‘real’ artists that were actually drawing and then displaying their work. It reminded me of New Orleans around the cathedral at Jackson’s Square.
We had lunch at this ultra-modern restaurant (at least it had great air-conditioning). We dined on antipasti, pasta Bolognese, some kind of risotto and the main course was some kind of tender beef in a tomato sauce and fresh vegetables. For dessert, we had a tiramisu cake that Patrick insisted was ice cream cake, but I knew it just had not defrosted properly. :)
After Florence, we got on the bus for the hour trip to Pisa. I must say I am SO glad I did not cancel Florence in favor of just seeing Pisa. It was quite a disappointment. It was cool to see the leaning tower, church and baptistery, but you could not go inside any of them without a reservation and ticket. We just did not have any time to go inside any of the monuments. I can certainly understand why they kept the tower leaning. If it didn’t, I can’t imagine the tourism there surviving. If you are just doing the Pisa tour, I would HIGHLY recommed against it when you compare it to Florence.
Patrick and I left to go get some PHENOMINAL gelato at the local store and headed back to our bus. I slept almost the entire way back – we were over an hour and a half late because there was an accident on the highway back to La Spezia. I am so glad we did not have Peyton in the camp.
Tomorrow, we are taking Peyton to Marseille to see the Calanques of Cassis.
We got on a BUS, and I promptly fell asleep. We did have a quick stop at a glorified gas station for snacks and a restroom break. I had a nice croissant and Patrick got some cookies. Back on the bus for another hour where we drove through some of the most beautiful countryside I have ever seen. When we finally arrived in Florence (the capital of Tuscany), it was a beautiful crisp sunny day. The guide we had was named Luca – he was wonderful! You could tell he truly loved his city of Florence and gave us a wonderful background of the area. We saw the bell tower, church (Basilica di Saint Maria del Fiore) and baptistery that were made entirely of marble. They had three different colors of marble. The white stands for faith, the green stands for hope and the pink stands for charity. He also showed us a bronze door that was covered in 24 karat gold – very beautiful. We then walked to the Ponte Vecchio bridge and got a beautiful view of the river. On the way, there was a bronze statue of a wild boar in the corner where the ledgend has it if you put a coin in his mouth and it falls to the grate, you will have good luck. We then strolled over to where there was a copy of the David statue as well as a statue of Perseus slaying Medusa in bronze (by Cellini). I must admit that Florence really is a beautiful city. I am SO glad that we did not get out of the tour, it was really such a wonderful city. After the statues, we got to see the church (I think it was Santa Croce Square) where many famous people were buried – Dante, Galileo, the two men who built the gold doors to the church, Cellini and Michelangelo.
There are lots of street vendors around selling pictures. We were told that it was illegal to buy anything off ‘the floor’. The pictures were very pretty, but we quickly learned they were mass produced when we noticed that nearly everyone had the same image! There were some ‘real’ artists that were actually drawing and then displaying their work. It reminded me of New Orleans around the cathedral at Jackson’s Square.
We had lunch at this ultra-modern restaurant (at least it had great air-conditioning). We dined on antipasti, pasta Bolognese, some kind of risotto and the main course was some kind of tender beef in a tomato sauce and fresh vegetables. For dessert, we had a tiramisu cake that Patrick insisted was ice cream cake, but I knew it just had not defrosted properly. :)
After Florence, we got on the bus for the hour trip to Pisa. I must say I am SO glad I did not cancel Florence in favor of just seeing Pisa. It was quite a disappointment. It was cool to see the leaning tower, church and baptistery, but you could not go inside any of them without a reservation and ticket. We just did not have any time to go inside any of the monuments. I can certainly understand why they kept the tower leaning. If it didn’t, I can’t imagine the tourism there surviving. If you are just doing the Pisa tour, I would HIGHLY recommed against it when you compare it to Florence.
Patrick and I left to go get some PHENOMINAL gelato at the local store and headed back to our bus. I slept almost the entire way back – we were over an hour and a half late because there was an accident on the highway back to La Spezia. I am so glad we did not have Peyton in the camp.
Tomorrow, we are taking Peyton to Marseille to see the Calanques of Cassis.
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