Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Med Cruise part 4 - Pisa and Firenze

Firenze! Need I say more? Florence was my favorite! It is everything Italy is supposed to be - gorgeous Tuscan countryside driving into it, sculptures and artwork everywhere you look, narrow streets lined with tall colorful buildings with balconies. I loved it!

Our first stop of the day was Pisa. The baptistry is on the far left, cathedral in the center, and leaning tower on the right. We learned that the construction of the tower was halted at the third floor because it had shifted and started to lean due to the waterlogged sand it was built upon. After a period of time, construction was restarted. They built the final 3 floors at an angle trying to compensate for the lean so if you look closely, you can actually see a bend in the tower.
 
The baptistry was really beautiful!
 
 
 
I also thought the cathedral was beautiful!
 
The obligatory picture of McKayla holding up the tower.
 
McKayla and I ducking as the tower comes down on us!
 
 
The countryside.
 
 
 
Palazzo Vecchio in Florence (including interior shots).
 
 
 
The most spectacular building we saw on our trip (and that's saying a lot) was the Duomo in Firenze! Oh my gosh! I took so many pictures of it and none of them do it justice. Wow!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Along the Arno River
 

 
The Ponte Vecchio - the only bridge to not be bombed in World War II. Originally, the buildings on it were butcher shops. They are now high-end jewelry stores.
 
McKayla and I on the Ponte Vecchio.
 
 
McKayla on the Ponte Vecchio.
 
The Palazzo Pitti (now the center of their government).
 
McKayla on one of the narrow streets.
 
 
A street we wandered down complete with lots of street artists.

 
 
A copy of Michelangelo's David. McKayla and I did not see the real thing as we did not want to go to the Uffizi Gallery. Art galleries are really not our thing and, besides, they won't let you take pictures of the real David anyways.
 
 
 
Just one of the many, many statues, fountains, etc we passed.

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