This past weekend I went with Rotary to see Pisa and Florence.
Saturday morning we loaded onto a bus (22 exchange students total) and headed towards Pisa. We passed through the greener Alps that continue down into the heart of Italy. We stopped at a park to eat our packed lunches. John, whose family visited recently, had a box of Chez Its (how do you spell that?) from America and it was pretty funny to see everyone go crazy over that. We got back on the bus and it wasn’t 10 minutes before someone shouted “I can see the tower!” We had arrived. Excitedly we all unloaded off the bus and walked together into the city. Following Murnik we were led right up to the tower, the Duomo, and the Baptistero (how do you spell that?). Well all began to take the very fun touristy photos posing with the tower in various positions. Some got more creative than others, haha. Murnik told us a lot of information, like how Pisa is closed off with a great wall around it because of pirates back in the day and how the leaning tower was built on earth that was too soft- because the ground here has a lot of water around it to begin with, being close to the sea and with rivers around.
Then we had about 45 minutes of free time before we all went up the tower together. I had very little cash to go shopping so I went off with Jody in search for a Bancomat. In the process I caught sight of men selling rides on these bicycle cart contraptions. You know, kind of like the ones you see families riding on at the VA Beach boardwalk? Well, I HAD to do that. I grabbed Jody’s arm and we inquired into the cost. 5 euro for 30 minutes. I was short 20 cents. Jody spotted me. Officially broke and very very excited we climbed into our new vehicle. Being the one at the steering wheel, I guided us through the streets of Pisa. If it was Milan, I would have died. Probably why they don’t sell these carts there. Fortunately Pisa is just a little place and nobody seems like they are in too big of a hurry. In half an hour we were able to see the majority of Pisa, laughing and singing “That’s Amore” the whole time. With about 5 or 10 minutes left we encountered another Italian family on their own bicycle cart. “Facciamo un gioco?!” they said. “Wanna play a game?!” Oh mama mia, soon we were racing! Laughing uncontrollably, I pedaled hard, glad that Jody was now driving. I’d swish my head around and see the other family gaining on us, great big Italian smiles on their faces! We both ended up laughing and a bit out of breath right where we had started. As we got off the bike and turned it back in our competitors continued on calling back “Abbiamo vinto!” “E vero!” I replied laughing,” Una bella vittoria!” ( “We won!” “Very true! A beautiful victory!”)
Going up the tower of Pisa was much like being in a funhouse. I used the walls for support and reassured myself that I was not falling- only leaning. There are a few different levels but the view from the very top was worth the climb. Talk about a Kodak moment. It did feel a bit bizarre though. There is kind of a fence screen thing that wraps around on all sides, naturally so you don’t fall off, which isn’t like easy to do. But one girl tripped and fell against it. That momentary fear flooded her face. I don’t even want to imagine.
Not too long after that, we were back on the bus on our way to Florence. We entered the city in the late evening. We arrived at our hotel and had an hour to situate ourselves before we went out for dinner. I shared a room with Halcy and we spent the time having a cup of tea and walking along the multiple floors. As we headed by foot (on foot or by foot?) to go have dinner I knew I was going to love this city. At night the river looked like shiny black ink and everything was lighted up just enough- nothing was flashy. The place where we went to eat was quite popular. We had a whole section of the place for us. I tried to stay there and away from the packed bar. We ended the meal with a delicious strawberry cheesecake and champagne in honor of Katharine’s 18 birthday the next day. We returned to the hotel and after a real hot powerful shower (kind of like those ones we had before we change the showerhead- remember those mom? I know it uses way too much water way too quickly- but it feels so gooooood J) I fell into bed.
The next day we had a brilliant tour guide accompany us for the whole morning. I liked hearing the Florentine accent! First we went to this spot where you can overlook all of Firenze. He pointed out the major landmarks like Ponte Vecchio and their amazing Duomo. He mentioned that most of the other bridges are German and gave us a “What canya do?” shrug. We also saw one of the copies of Michelangelo’s David there. He mentioned that proportionally David isn’t perfect. His head, his feet, and his hands are all enlarged to show his power (or something like that). (He also advised that if we want to see the real David to come in winter or else book it. But John said he came like a week before and they waited in line for half an hour and saw it. Hey, could be worse.) We walked in towards the Duomo which is seriously incredible. It’s the 4th biggest Duomo in the world. Lemme try to remember what he said; the first biggest is in the Vatican, the second and third are in London and Milan (can’t remember which is which), then there’s the one in Florence. The guide told us that they usually don’t point out that it’s the fourth biggest, they just say the biggest in their region and stick to that. Haha. In fact, another city was building a church at the same time Florence was constructing theirs. The Florentines actually diverted from their original plans when they realized that the other church was going to be bigger. Involved in a sort of church-building contest they expanded on what they had already built and won. It does result in an interesting view from one side, though. You can see the same sort of pattern for most of one side and then there is a change- the windows are different, etc. I find this pretty funny. It’s also made out of three different colors of marble- red, white, and green like their flag. They copied some sort of style off the French, didn’t catch what exactly. They also didn’t know how to construct the dome and couldn’t figure it out until Brunelleschi came along and shared a bit of his architectural genius. I studied Brunelleschi in art history class! We saw Dante’s church and the reconstruction of Dante’s house (which got blown up at some point). The tomb of Beatrice was in Dante’s church. He supposedly met Beatrice there. Dang man, after studying Dante and writing a big long paper on him (full of grammatical errors) it felt so crazy to be standing where he might had stood years ago, falling in love with his heroine. Mama mia. Then we continued on to the piazza next to the Uffizi art museum (which is probably the most amazing art museum in the world) and continued onto the Ponte Vecchio. Just so you know the lock thing that people in love do,{when they right their names on a lock and attach it to something like a gate, etc. next to a famous river, then throw the key into the river} don’t do this in Florence. Every couple weeks people come along with pliers and get them all off. This, according to our guide, is why there are so many divorces. Stick to Cremona.
After our lovely tour we went to a pizzeria where I had la pizza Fiorentina. I thought it was only fitting. Had capers for the first time. Ended it with a yummy Tiramisu (can you tell this was not a diet weekend?) and then we had about 2.5 hours of free time. It was a bit overwhelming for me to decide what to do. First I bought postcards, then I went inside the Duomo and lit a candle. After that all I really wanted to do was walk around. The Uffizi was SO tempting but I knew that if I went there it’d drive me crazy to be rushed. So instead I enjoyed the sunshine crossing a bridge there, taking a left there, a right there. I was accompanied by Henry and Clare and we had a great time just taking photos and going at a relaxed pace. I couldn’t have asked for more. I had officially fallen head over heels with Firenze and to explore it under a budding spring sun- oh how divine. I’m surprised I consented to get back on the bus and leave. Too soon I was back in Milan, but after this taste I’m more excited than ever to return to Florence with my mom!
I should probably mention that I was camera-less this entire trip. Through an un-interesting turn of events my camera was unavailable to me. So while I did photograph using other people’s cameras it’ll be a while until I can post photos. The good news is that I’m finally putting Venice photos up!
Enjoy.
Grace
