Our bus travelled through the gorgeous Tuscan country-side. Travel to Florence took about 1 1/2 hours but the trip went quickly. Autumn colours and early morning fogs greeted us as we travelled through the agricultural and wine country of Tuscany. We saw mediaeval villas and farm houses on hills over looking green valleys. Our Guide told us they received more than normal rain this season. We couldn’t fault the guide, she was very informative and helpful. We were expecting to visit Pisa first but due to changes in itinerary we were leaving earlier than original time so Pisa was on the way back to ship. Luckily the Dell’Accademia museum honoured our skip the line and David is now ticked off our bucket list😊.
We then enjoyed an Italian lunch of pasta and a 500g Tuscan cut Tbone steak. The local wine makes us wonder what we have been drinking in Australia???
We the wandered around an took a ‘few’ photos, saw the famous Bridge Ponte Vecchio though sadly did not have time to walk through, dodged some more beggars and hawkers, though not too assertive or aggressive here. Maybe the Paratroopers down the road with automatic weapons which may have been a deterant to want a be terrorists.
We also explored the Piazza S Croce, a square built during 14th and 15th centuries. The church holds numerous famous citizens of Florence and the Renaissance. The square had also many gold and leather shops that provided demonstrations as part of our tour. (Obviously they were keen for us to buy the goods and even offered free toilets which is big deal in Italy. ) One shop offered a copy of a bag made by the shop in the 1950s for Grace Kelly.
Onto Pisa and to see the Leaning Tower for real was was another bucket list ticked. It was certainly amazing to see the tower leaning as it is. Of course there were the mandatory photo setups with people ‘holding up’ the tower. The other buildings, all apart of the church, were also wonderful. Apparently leaning as well due to soft base soils of sand and clay (as there were more rivers and water ways in the area during construction) compacted by the heavy marble building material, although their lean not as obvious. We returned to our meeting spot through the hawkers. These ones much more aggressive. One tangled with an American on our cruise who had already bought a similar item from another hawker. Let’s just say I think he now had a new orifice.
Trip back to port relatively uneventful. A long day seeing the sun rise and sun set.
Florence is another city we will return to in near future and explore its Renaissance era squares and grand buildings with more time.
L
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