Florence, Pisa & Le Cinque Terre, Italy

Florence

August 11-15 2008

Ponte Vecchio bridge at night!

Day 7 cont.
We arrived in Florence at around 11:30am; we took a taxi to our hotel from the train station. Once again we only had a hotel room for two people, so we had to figure out where the third person was going to stay. Our hotel was too expensive per night, so we got a room at the hotel next to ours. We put lee in that room and my sister and I shared the other. After we figured all that out, we headed out to explore the city. We saw a lot of sights but we mainly shopped. Florence has a lot of open air markets with many different trades selling their products. We got some leather journals and scarfs for ourselves and friends. After shopping we needed a little sitting break and a snack. So we bought some of the best gelato that I have ever had, which it better be for 4 Euros per scoop! After our expensive snack and rest we walked back to the hotel for a 2 hour break/nap before dinner. For dinner we found this mom and pop eatery with Panini’s. It was cheap and delicious! After that it was bed time!


Day 8

We decided to take a day trip since we had pretty much seen all of Florence that we wanted. We originally wanted to go to San Marino but it just didn’t seem worth the hassle. So we went to Le Cinque Terre and Pisa instead (see other post). We didn’t arrive back in Florence until 10:30 or so, and we were hungry. We found a not-so-good eatery still open and ate our sandwiches on the steps of the cathedral. After that we went to the famous bridge in Florence. We walked across the bridge towards our hotel. By the time we got to our hotel and fell asleep it was well past 2am.

Day 9

This was one of the first times we actually got to sleep in. We were packed, breakfasted and in our taxi to the train station by 11. We had to wait in another long line at the train station to get our seat reservations. We boarded the train and were on our way to Milan by 12:00.


Florence was a 3.5. I liked it a lot more than Venice!

Pisa

August 12th 2008

The Baptistery of San Giovanni, The Duomo, and La Torre di Pisa.

Day 8 cont.

We took the train from Le Cinque Terre to Pisa. Our goal for Pisa was the Leaning Tower! We got out of the train station and found the bus we were to take to the tower. We passed our stop on the bus and had to get off at the next one and then go back! We took a lot of pictures around the Field of Miracles and hung out there for a while. Then we took a taxi back to the train station, since the bus has stopped running. We made caught our train on time.


Pisa is a 2. The tower is a 3! There isn't much to do in Pisa except visit the tower!

Le Cinque Terre

August 11-13th 2008

Isn't it beautiful?

Day 8 cont..

The train ride to Le Cinque Terre was 2.5 hours, but worth every minute. Le Cinque Terre or the five lands, is a string of coastal cities. The cities are small but very colorful with the best views from the ocean looking toward the shore. We went to the 4th farthest city Venizza, and then took a ferry along the coast to the Riomaggiore. We shopped there for a while until the next train was due to arrive. At the train station we got gelato and then caught our train to Pisa!

Le Cinque Terre is a 4. Very beautiful and picturesque.