I have always dreamed of going to the Leaning Tower of Pisa and it finally became a reality!
We were headed down to Florence to spend the weekend with friends and decided to stop in Pisa since it wasn't that much further than Florence, only about an hour away. You can either take the main road or take back roads through the Tuscan hills/vineyards. Definitely recommend the back scenic route. There were some amazing views!! Plus it's still ends up being about an hour extra drive.
The main part of Pisa where the tower is, is sectioned off and most people think/say that there would be no parking inside close to the Leaning Tower of Pisa but they are definitely wrong. There's plenty of parking on the inside of the wall. We were lucky though and parked right outside of the wall but to save time looking and a little walking go inside the wall first to look for a spot.
The views were amazing! You could go up inside but the lines were too long and I don't think there's much to look at while up inside.
After walking around and taking the normal "Pisa" pictures we stopped a small restaurant right near the Leaning Tower. You would think it would be super expensive but surprisingly it wasn't. We each got a peach tea, pizza and papas fritas aka fries. These were probably the best papas fritas either one of us have ever had!
Time to head to Florence to check in at our hotel.
I found a place on "GoWithOh" that wasn't that expensive for 2 nights and had a kitchenette, small tv/living room, 2 bedrooms, small balcony and a bathroom. This site has apartments/houses people rent out for cheap. We went with Florence Apartments Central. Wasn't that bad either and it's not like we needed anything fancy since we were going to be wandering around a lot.
The first night our friends had to come later since one had to work late. But also down in Florence were a few people Preston works with. We ended up meeting them for dinner at Ristorante Giannino in San Lorenzo.
We sat outside, perfect people watching spot :) We also had a few guys playing music across the street from us.
For dinner I got a 1/4 liter of their white wine and then I got risotto with asparagus, and spinach with flank steak.
After dinner two of the guys we were with had been to Florence before and had been a to a bar they really enjoyed. So we all decided to head over there. The bar was called Lion's Fountain Firenze. It was different than most Italian bars I've seen/been to. All over the walls and ceilings were American colleges. We even saw Preston's brother's college, Shwhich isn't that well known to most people. And of course, for you mom and Aunt Kim, there was a Virginia Tech shirt! I didn't see a George Mason or UVA shirt unfortunately. Maybe next time I go I should bring a shirt for them to put up :)
Sunday, August 31
Time to explore!
Right outside our apartment are all different stands/stalls where people are selling anything and everything. Most of the stuff was leather backpacks and bags. But there was still plenty of other things to buy.
After wondering through some of the stalls we stopped at a local pastry shop to get a little breakfast. I got a cream filled pastry while Preston got a chocolate one.
First place we stopped at was The Galleria dell' Accademia. One of the most popular sculptures you will find here is the Statue of David.
All throughout the museum you will find hundreds of painting, sculptures and old bibles/books.
We all decided after the museum to just wander around and see what we could find.
First place we ended up walking through Piazza della Signoria, which has a lot of different statues along with a replica of the Statue of David and also the Neptune's Fountain. This piazza has also been known as the center of political life in Florence since the 14th century, with the main focus/building being the Palazzo Vecchio. The Palazzo Vecchio broke ground in 1299, where there used to stand a theater of the Roman colony of Florentia. Now this building is a museum you can walk through and go up in the tower. We just walked through the main lobby area; there are still a few sculptures to see here.
We then made our way past the Uffizi Gallery, where carved into the side of the gallery were statues of famous people.
After making our way through we ended up down by Ponte Vecchio. Ponte Vecchio is a bridge that is filled with shops. They used to be filled with butchers but now-a-days the shops are filled with jewelers, are dealers and souvenir sellers. We never made our way to the shops but it was definitely cool to just see the bridge.
By the time we made started to head down we all wanted something to snack on/cool us down. What better than gelato! I found a place on Trip Advisor that said it was one of the best in Florence, so why not give it a try since it was close by. The gelatteria was Il Gelato di Filo, which was right near the bottom of one of the huge hills we had to climb. This had to have been my favorite gelato in Florence.
Next on our list of things to do was go inside the Duomo or Cathedral of Santa Maria dei Fiore.
After climbing the first bunch of stairs you can admire the exquisite artwork on the ceiling.
To make it all the way to the top, to look out on the city you get to go through some really tight and small spaces with even more stairs.
Once you come out and see the view, you will forget how many stairs you climbed to get here. You can see all of Florence.
After a long day of walking and seeing so many amazing things we needed to find somewhere to stop and eat. We wandered around for a little trying to decide on what to eat, but of course we ended up doing what most people do, went to one of the main squares and found a "touristy" place to eat at. From my experience, not always the best thing to do. It's always the hole in the wall places that usually end up being the best.
We ended up at Il Porcospino. There were multiple people sitting outside so this was one reason why we thought it might be good. I ended up getting a pasta with bacon and a cream sauce.
This is one place I will definitely not be going back to, when I go back to Florence.We haven't had so many problems at a restaurant in Italy until now.
Now to find some gelato to make everything better! :)
We went to Venchi, a place we had kept passing during the day wondering so wanted to try it. Another very good gelato in Florence.
While walking around at night we got to see people doing street art. I thought they were really good lifelike.
Plus some of the signs in Florence are really silly. Not exactly sure what they mean but they're funny to look at.
Monday, September 1
Before heading back home we ended up doing a few things. One was stopping at the Lindt store, which I was dying to go in. (Really good chocolate) We ended up getting a few of the chocolate balls they are known for. I never knew there were so many different flavors.
While walking around, I did notice a Disney store. It makes me happy to see these all over Italy, makes me fell like I'm back home in the states.
Great weekend away in Florence, Italy with friends!! Time for the journey home...
No comments:
Post a Comment