Florence and Pisa
We took one of the trains to Florence just after we checked out of the hotel. We got to Florence around 3pm, dropped our stuff of at the hostel, and headed to Pisa before dark. After some gelato, we took some of those really cheesy pics of holding the tower up, leaning against it, and in my case, pushing it down. It really is cheesy, but it felt like I had to do it. Theresa agreed. After the pictures, I tried getting up to the top, but it had closed 15 minutes earlier. Oh well.
We realized we missed one of the trains, so we decided to get some dinner. Pasta and lasagna. We’re in Italy, gotta have that stuff, right? I was so happy to find out they had beer on tap, so I ordered a large just to find out that a large is 1L. The only other place I’ve seen that is in Bavaria. Even in Northern Germany a large is .5L. I was so happy, until I found out it was 12.50 Euros. The most expensive beer I’ve ever paid for. Oh well. It was good. Would have really sucked if it was some crappy beer.
We made our way back to Florence and checked out our magnificent hostel, PLUS hostel. If anyone is planning on going there, you have to stay at that hostel. 13 Euros/night for a 7 person dorm. Included is a gym, pool, sauna, laundry facilities, internet, a restaurant, pub, among other stuff. Each room had a bathroom ensuite. Definitely one of, if not, the best hostel I’ve ever stayed at.
Anyways, we set out the next morning to see the Ponte Vecchio, Dante’s church, a couple squares, and of course, Cathedral Santa Maria del Fiore and the Duomo. That thing is freaking amazing. While the inside of the cathedral isn’t anything spectacular (except for the inside of the dome, which very much is), the views after we made our way the 463 steps to the top, were fantastic. Later we made our way to get something to eat. Our fabulous map, provided by the hostel, told us that there was a Mexican restaurant close by. Our mouths started watering. We walked all the way there just to find out it was closed. Luckily there was a pretty good Chinese place around the corner. Chinese is another one of those ethnic foods you don’t realize how much you need them until you don’t have them anymore.
After dark we made our way to Piazza Michelangelo to check out a night view of the city and to check out one of the copies of David. The original, in the Gallerie d’Accademia, was closed on Mondays. We decided to take the bus, and since we were riding without tickets, after 45 minutes we got nervous, figured we were close, and got off to walk the rest of the way. We were wrong. We walked some of the way, but ended up getting on another bus. After taking in the views, we figured it was shorter to walk, so we headed back to the hostel to turn in for the night. Had to get ready for the headache that was the Italian train system the next day…
I’ll upload pics tomorrow when I do my Barcelona post…
Tags: Duomo, Florence, General, Italy, Leaning Tower of Pisa, Michelangelo, Pisa, Ponte Vecchio, Travel
mrnational
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