Today we are heading to Florence by way of Pisa.
Drive Through Umbria
We traveled through Umbria and Tuscany where Pisa and Florence are both located. The terrain was rolling hills with plenty of small towns with vineyards and factories. Between Florence and Pisa, we passed an area that had a large area where various trees and shrubs were grown.
We stopped at a couple of interstate gas stations to use the toilet along the way. They were expectantly very clean. We also had an opportunity to go through the convenience store where we found a lot of super-sized candy and chips, and some other items unique to Italy like ketchup-flavored potato chips.
Pisa
When we arrived in Pisa, we had to park the bus and take a “train” to the city’s Cathedral Square. The trains were actually shuttles that took us near the Square to an area that was full of street vendors and restaurants located outside the walls of the Square. We were all advised to negotiate the listed price and those that bought stuff said they were usually able to get things for about half off. We also found that many of the items did not hold up well as several people bought umbrellas that were broken or falling apart after a single-use.
The Square consists of five major structures with the Leaning Bell Tower as only one of them. It was raining but not too badly. After visiting the toilette, we took the obligatory pictures of Lisa holding up the tower with her hands. You needed tickets to go into the buildings, but since we were only there a couple of hours, we had to walk around the Square admiring the buildings from the outside. The beautiful green lawn really made the building stand out and everything looked beautiful.
We eventually went outside the wall and had some pizza and a beer. The pizza was so large that we only each ate half of ours. It cost 50 cents to get a take-home box for the leftovers.
Florence, StarHotel Michelangelo
When we got to Florence, we checked into the STARHOTEL MICHELANGELO and only had a little over an hour to get ready for dinner that night.
Florence, Finisterrae, A Restaurant on the Piazza of Santa Croce.
That night we went down with the tour group to the Finisterrae, a restaurant on the Piazza of Santa Croce. Lisa and I sat at the largest table with about eight other people. The food was good, the service was excellent, and the wine was even better as everyone seemed to be a little more joyful than usual. I did find the Spanish posters and paintings rather unusual for a meal that was supposed to give us a taste of Florence cuisine but I later learned that they boast a menu that includes many items from all over the Mediterranean area to include Spain.
Florence, Church of Santa Croce
Afterwards we were able to get a few pictures of the Church of Santa Croce at night before heading back to the hotel.