Florence & Pisa Photo Stoll

Saying good by to Rome. Well saying goodbye to Civitavecchia - the port outside of Rome. There wasn't a lot to see in that particular port. And oddly enough, no hoards of people with streamers and confetti wishing us bon voyage - like they did in the Love Boat.

We all got on board without incident, found our rooms and were ready to sail away. We had no idea then what a whirlwind of a trip it would be.

As you know, our first stop was Livorno Italy.  Nothing to see in Livorno, so our excursion took us to Pisa and Florence. I have already told you all about our excursion - but feel free to go back and read it to remind yourself. I'll wait.

Now that you've been reminded, let me fill in the blanks with photos. Before we get to recent photos, let me show you photos from 1987 when we were last there.

We visited Pisa after my high school graduation. Blueberry and her sister D surprised me at graduation and then traveled with us for a couple weeks after.  Pisa and Florence was one of our stops. Oddly enough I have no photos of Florence.  I do remember us driving in circles for what seemed like hours trying to find our hotel. Only to have mom get out and walk the street the hotel was supposed to be on. Turns out the hotel was on a second floor and you could only see it if you noticed the sign on a door. Those Italians. Making everything so difficult.

 We had to do the leaning thing too.  Everyone was, so we figured why not. Man were we young. And skinny.

28 years ago the leaning tower was really leaning. There had been some attempts in the years since to stop the sinking and thus the leaning. Some were more successful than others.

We actually climbed all 300+ steps to the top back then.  I recall there being more openings than there is and I recall there being no guard rail.  Climbing it was a lot like walking up hill, then down hill, all the while climbing up. Very odd.

Fast forward 28 years. Pisa hasn't changed too much. More shops. More people. But the Duomo, the Baptistery of St. John and the tower all seem to be about the same.

The Duomo and Leaning tower in Pisa.  It was just beautiful there. I wish we had more time.

The Leaning tower really is leaning. I tried to straighten it by leaning my camera instead.  My photography skills have changed slightly since 1987.  That and having digital I could take as many photos as I want.  Look at them. Adjust and take another.

Before I left, Seattle SIL and I took a digital photography seminar at the Rick Steves store. The photographer presenting mentioned to look for odd and funny photos of what the tourist were doing. His showed two examples. One of people gawking at the Mona Lisa. All these cameras in hand trying to get a great shot of the famous piece of art. 

The second he showed were people at the Leaning Tower trying to "hold it up".  I thought that'd be a fun photo to take.  This group of Japanese tourists all appeared to be doing tai chi or something.

Bathrooms were a constant issue in Italy. You never knew when you'd find one. If you had to pay for it. If it'd have toilet paper and of course guaranteed to stand in line. I used a lot of men's restrooms in Italy.

In Pisa there was a public restroom. It, of course, cost AND you had to get a ticket to use it. As you walked into the facilities area there was a man who sat behind a desk. His job? Take your .50Eu, print a ticket receipt, hand it to you and wait for the next in line. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.  Could you imagine such a job?

I got my receipt and promptly went and stood in line.  All the while watching men come and go with ease.  Who knew women standing in line at the restroom was a worldwide issue.  Can someone, anyone, solve this problem please?

Flash made one of his few appearances in Pisa.  I was pretty happy with this photo of Flash taking a photo of the leaning tower. THIS was what I was after.

I had to also try my luck and getting a photo of Flash "holding up" the tower. A bit more difficult considering he's so small. But as you can see, his camera is holding the tower up. He's a brave Lego boy.

As you also know, gelato was a constant for me on this trip.  After I wandered around, I found the group just outside small store our tour guide had told us had free bathrooms.  I was more interested in the gelato store next door. Lt. Sister and Stupid-Brother-in-Law also found the gelato. Then left me "in charge" of it as they went pee.  Brave. Very brave.

On our way out we figured we needed a group shot or two of us at Pisa.  I, personally, like this one of the Wraspir clan facing away from the camera and "leaning" with the tower. Goof balls.

After Pisa we headed to Florence.  Luca, our tour guide, had arranged a lunch for us and he swore it was the best lasagna we ever had. He was pretty close.

On the way to Florence we traveled through some beautiful countryside. At one point, Luca pointed out this old Roman aqueduct.

Lunch was indeed delicious. Luca was right. Casa Toscana was a nice restaurant that we thought we'd never would have found if it hadn't been for Luca.

Mom and I outside Casa Toscana, Florence.

Mom's Cabonara to the left. My "best lasagna ever" with Flash.

Cheers.

After lunch we split from Mike and Bev and started off on our own.  We adopted three other folks from our cruise ship who asked if they could join us. They had no idea where they were going and they thought I did. Fools.

The Duomo in Florence is nothing short of spectacular. It's actually called Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore - but I've only ever know it as "the Duomo".  The Duomo was finished in 1436 and is considered "gothic" in style.  The outside of the Duomo is covered with polychrome marble panels in various shades of green and pink bordered by white and has an elaborate 19th-century Gothic Revival façade.  It's stunning.

The next building/stop on our grand tour of "Florence on our own" was the Palazzo Vecchio in Piazza della Signoria. Outside the building is a smaller status of the famous David. I didn't have a need to pay to see the real David. I had seen him before (though I thought I was in Milan when I saw him).

We had started to get rained on by this time in Florence.  The shooting conditions on this trip, in general, were less than satisfactory, so we had to make due.

Just around the corner of Palazzo Vecchio is Ponte Vecchio. A bridge that doubles as a market. Now back in 1987, I swear, this was an actual market. Mom and Pop type stores selling anything from antiques to fruits/vegetables. Now it's all gold stores.

Midway through the bridge was a statue (of what I don't recall) that had locks all over it.  I suspected it was similar to the "lock bridge" I think that's in Paris.  Still, all the locks were interesting to photograph.

After walking all over hell's half acre in Pisa and then Florence, we were done. We found a small gelateria and had some - guess what? - gelato and a cappuccino.

And finally back on the bus we drove up to a park that overlooked Florence.  This isn't a great photo (see the lamp post in the middle of the photo) but you do what you can when you're on a moving bus.

To see the rest of my photos of Florence and Pisa, visit my Flickr site.