Well, today’s our first day in Italy as we pulled into the Port of Laverno as I woke up this morning. An early morning bus trip took us from the ship to the town of Pisa. As our tour guide stated on our way into town, not much to do in Pisa… You get there, you look at the tower, take your picture, and leave. For anyone planning on visiting Pisa, beware of the illegal vendors. Apparently a guy selling fake watches pulled a knife on my brother because he didn’t want one! I saw the knife, but because I couldn’t understand what he was saying, I thought he was selling it (which he may have been and we just took it as a threat). Anyways, got some nice pics from Pisa that I’ll post when I’m somewhere with a better Internet connection. Did our picture with my grandfather holding up the tower while I try to kick it down, made friends with a cat that lived in the nearby seminary, and we left.
After about an hour and a half trip through the mountains and Tuscan countryside we ended up in the “cradle of the Renaissance” Florence. We were dropped off at the Church of Santa Croce – burial place of Leonardo DaVinci and Galileo. There’s also an awesome tribute to Dante, of Divine Comedy fame, but we were told by our tour guide that he’s not actually buried in Florence as he was exiled from the city in his lifetime and thus was buried somewhere else. In addition, we went to see the “Fake David” and statuary near the Ponte Vecchio, went up to the bridge (didn’t go on it, very busy and not enough time), and passed by the Uffizi Gallery (where the real David is kept, and the line wasn’t really that bad). On our way back we got some gelato at a small cafe, and headed back to meet the rest of our group. And, following another 90 minute drive, I’m back on my boat ready for tomorrow – our first time in Rome (of three).
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