Days Five and Six – Pisa and Florence

Today we left Venice behind us, which seems so unreal – because we’ve already seen so much stuff, yet there’s so much more ahead. We drove to Pisa for a quick photo op, and only got to spend about 45 minutes in the Piazza dei Miracoli (Square of Miracles), but for the most part, we really only wanted to get the crazy photos like everyone else was doing, either pretending to be holding up the tower, or pushing it down, or having it fall on you, etc., go to the bathrooms, and grab a quick slice of pizza for lunch. We might have also done a bit of quick souvenir shopping, but because the storm clouds were quickly approaching, we were glad to be back on the bus and on the way to Florence. This was the only bit of “bad” weather we had – the rest of the trip it was absolutely perfect.



We arrived in Florence while it was still drizzling, and rushed to check into our rooms, find our luggage, get changed, and rush back out to the church for our concert. We literally had only about 10 minutes to get ready, and then had to manage a speedy mile walk to the church. We did our first full concert here, and they left the doors of the church open so that our voices carried out to the street. We did have several people come in mid-concert and sit down for a couple of songs, so that was kind of cool.


The next day we met our local guides for our trip to the Accademia Museum, where Michelangelo’s famous sculpture of David is located. Unfortunately, photos were not allowed in most of the museums, so I just have memories. I had no idea that the sculpture itself was 17 feet tall, and with it being on a pedestal, it is really an imposing figure. We also toured the church where Michelangelo’s, Dante’s, and Galileo’s tombs are (and I’m thinking I probably need to read “The Divine Comedy” again, now that I’ve been to Florence – I always liked Dante in school, anyway).


After the church, we were set loose for free time again. While waiting in line to see David, the gypsies were trying to sell us prints of the city. I actually really liked two of them, but wanted to wait until after the tour. We sat down on the church steps for a quick break, and one gypsy immediately brought the prints over to try to sell them to us – 2 for 50 euros. We said “too much” and eventually got him down to 2 for 15, but I kept saying 2 for 10, and he tried to swap one of the prints I wanted for one I didn’t. Robert was bargaining with him, and the guy finally said 2 for 12, to which Robert responded, “ok, then 2 for 6!” I laughed, but the guy was really confused. I said 2 for 10 again, and he said 2 for 12 and handed me the 2 prints I wanted. Since I had them in my hand, I gave him a 10 euro bill and said 2 for 10. He tried to get me to give him another 2 euros, but we wouldn’t do it! It was a lot of fun bargaining with him, though.
While we were in that part of the city, we also hoofed it down to the Ponte Vecchio Bridge. During WWII, Hitler apparently gave specific instructions for the Germans to not bomb the old bridge, so that’s why it’s still standing today. It was similar to the Rialto Bridge in Venice, in that it had shops built on top of the bridge, but it dates back much further.


We then tried to find what I’d discovered was supposed to be the largest yarn shop in Italy, to Campolmi Roberto Filati. We actually found another yarn shop, but it was closed for siesta midday, and we never got back to it. When we found Campolmi’s, I was really disappointed. Maybe it’s just that we’re spoiled here in the US, but I was not impressed, and left without buying anything.
We then spent the rest of our afternoon and early evening at the San Lorenzo Market, which was a blast! I bought several scarves and pashminas, a leather bag, and a couple of t-shirts. Robert found a really cool wallet, too. I definitely could have spent more time in Florence, too, but time was at a premium, so we had to pack up again for the last leg of our fantastic journey.

Next up: Rome