Day 5 (?) Florence
I went to sleep pretty late last night but was wide awake at 7! We did get to move rooms yesterday and are so much happier! The room does have two beds and is a bit bigger than the last. And we do have an internet connection (the wireless is down, however, we have a cord so we can still get it.) We had breakfast then headed to the Duomo to climb the dome. All 469 steps! It wasn’t too bad though it was pretty hot and humid even early today, but was well worth it. We got 2/3 the way up to see the frescoes inside the dome. Then climbed the rest of the way to the top where you could walk around outside to enjoy really beautiful views of Florence. It was a little hazy but we could see everything. We enjoyed it for a bit, especially when there was a small breeze, then headed down. Barb, you would have been so proud! I only got a bit unnerved at one point (and took a picture so you could see how steep it was). Worse than that stairway in Peru, however, walls on either side so there wasn’t a thousand foot drop! Ok, I panicked a bit, but shielded my eyes from the view and made my way down. After the inside viewing, the walk was easy and very windy. Kim kept getting dizzy but we both made it down intact!
We headed over to the centro mercado (central market) and walked among the stalls of leather goods, pashminas, souveniers, etc. We then went into the mercado where the food merchants were. We got an excellent salami and cheese panini (we can’t seem to get enough of them!) and I got mine with sundried tomatoes. Yum! We then bought some pasta and sun dried tomatoes for gifts for people. Then ended up picking up three more for the trip to Pisa. Oh, and we ran into her at the Duomo on the way to her bike tour! We plan to take the 4:30 train to Pisa, and she’s supposed to text me.. hopefully it will go through! I got a bottle of brunello in the mercado for when I return home to the US. I found the bag that my friend Sandy asked me to get for her sister finally, then we made our way back to the room to cool off and enjoy a little air conditioning. It’s quite hot and humid today!
We then walked over to the Santa Croce church across town (which in actuality is less than a 15 minute walk from our perfectly placed hotel only two blocks from the Duomo!) Beautiful place and we toured it for a bit. We then walked through the Piazza Vecchio, enjoyed catalina crème gelatos (crème brule) before heading back to the mercado. I bought a beautiful shawl as well as a pashmina, and Kim is still searching for a leather bag. We then stopped in an Osteria for a break and some vino rosso then headed back to the room to cool off, pick up our paninis, and head to the train station.
We picked up our tickets in the train station, though, found a kiosk that only took cash and it ate 10 euros! We got out round trip tickets and got a text from Nada that she was on her way. We found the train and let her know where it was as the station has around 15 trains, and she made it with moments to spare! We were pretty packed in and in a car with no air conditioning, but once we started moving it was good enough. She had a great bike ride through some of the Chianti region and the pictures looked beautiful.
We arrived to Pisa a little over an hour later, bought bus tickets and went to the tower. What a gorgeous area! All of the typical souvenier stands nearby, but the duomo and cathedral were gorgeous and surrounded by an ancient looking wall. The tower was incredibly cool to see too! We had found out that they do allow tours now and we were able to get tickets. We walked around a bit, took the obligatory tourist photos, ate our panini, checked our bag and made our way up. The marble was very worn with deep wearing in the center of the steps. The walk up wasn’t too bad for the most part, and there is a landing 2/3 the way up for us to walk around. Then we walked up again to another area, and the views were beautiful of the city and cathedral. Unfortunately the gate was pretty low and we were walking on stairs that went around the area, so I was a bit unnerved by the heights! I hope someday I get over it. :o) This area had lots of bells and room to walk around. The last climb was short to the top (200ish steps in all.) We took lots of pictures then made our way down. It was slippery going on the way down due to the worn marble!!
We found the bus and made our way back to the train then to Florence. What a fun day! It was nice and cool after we did the climb and on the way home. We found the bus stop for tomorrow’s trip to Siena then headed back to the hotel for some sleep. Getting up early tomorrow to catch the bus as it’s around a one hour drive. Nada will be coming with us but she’s heading up to Milan tomorrow. She’ll do a half day in Siena, catch a few more sights in Florence then head out. Kim and I are winging it and will see if we want to stay in Siena a bit longer. We have dinner reservations at a place my friend Colleen recommended, which she said was excellent. It’s family style I believe, with big tables, so should be a really fun time meeting people.
Good night!!
Sam
No comments:
Post a Comment