Day 4 – La Spezia, Italy
Today we were up early to get ready for our excursion to Florence and Pisa. After grabbing a quick breakfast we were off to the WDT to meet up with our excursion. Once you check in, where you find out your tour number and get your stickers for your shirt, they have you sit in one row for your excursion. After a short wait we were on our way to the bus.
We had about a 90 minute bus ride to Florence so there were a few naps along the way. Our nice tour guide Guilia informed us we would be stopping about half way basically at a truck stop to use the rest room and stretch. She said there were not many public restrooms in Florence so this would be a good spot to stop. After the quick 15-minute stop we were back on our way. Oh yeah, it is already getting hot outside.
Soon enough we were entering Florence and on our way to the old section. I forgot to mention yesterday that they hand out radios with one earpiece to listen to the guide as we walk around. You could hear pretty well and it had decent range so you didn’t have to stay right next to the guide. Also, both the front and back of the bus had our tour number so they were easy to spot as well.
Once we exited the bus we made our way into Florence behind our Mickey shaped sign. Looking straight down the street you couldn’t miss the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, Il Duomo. It is hard to describe how big this church really is when seeing it for the first time. We approached from one of the sides and then continued to the front, the Piazza del Duomo. Guilia gave us lots of great information as we took in this great structure.
Starting our tour in the streets
Some details on Il Duomo
GoPro image because it is so big! Scaffolding(L) is on the Baptistry
The Dome
I snuck away for a quick look and picture of the East doors (facing Il Duomo) to the Baptistry of San Giovanni, the Gates of Paradise (according to Michelangelo). If you’re a Dan Brown fan you must read “Inferno” before going to Florence and you will see many of the places that are featured in the book.
Door detail
Here’s yet another note: be prepared to see some of the sites partially covered in scaffolding, netting or sometimes completely covered. This was the case with the doors mentioned above as well as many other sites on the rest of the trip. It is a little disappointing but when you realize how old these structures are you can only imagine the upkeep to keep them standing.
From there we continued down the streets (and passed a
Disney Store) as we made our way to the Piazza della Repubblica. We stopped for an explanation on this piazza and other information about this section of the city. It is also now officially HOT here as well. Our guide said it is like the weather they usually have in late July and August.
Piazza della Repubblica
Street artist
We were now on our way to the Ponte Vecchio bridge over the river Arno. This bridge dates back to 1345 and includes the Vasari Corridor above it. It was the only bridge not destroyed over the river Arno during WWII in Florence. It now houses lots of goldsmiths and jewelry stores.
Shops on the bridge
Ponte Vecchio Bridge
We left the bridge and walked along the river to the entrance to the Uffizi Gallery. Scaffolding currently covers a lot of the exterior of the Gallery, but the building was still beautiful.
Arch we walked under to get to Uffizi Gallery
Uffizi Gallery with scaffolding
At the far end of the Uffizi Gallery is the Piazza della Signoria and the Palazzo Vecchio. This Piazza is spectacular with its statues and the Neptune fountain. The statues include the copy of “David” by Michelangelo and “Hercules and Cacus” by Bandinelli. Search Google for more information on all the other sites in this Piazza as there are too many to list. We just looked around and took in all there was to see.
Copy of "David"
"Hercules and Cacus" to the right of "David"
Neptune Fountain
"David" lower right
Guilia then led us down a few blocks to Piazza Santa Croce. Unfortunately the Piazza was under construction with a soccer stadium of sorts was being constructed for the Calcio Florentino-basically a city championship of a game created in Florence in the 16th Century that is played the 3rd week of June every year.
Because of this we did not get a true appreciation for this Piazza and the Basilica in it. Once we arrived we were set free to wander on our own for 90 to walk around. Have I mentioned yet today that it was HOT?
We were hungry so we walked a few blocks down to All'Antico Vinaio located at
Via dei Neri, 74. We had huge, authentic sandwiches on awesome bread for €5! The sandwiches could easily feed 2 people. We also shared a glass of wine (€2-serve yourself) and a couple od Coke Lights. We knew about this place because the daughter of a friend spent a travel abroad semester in Florence. We knew it was good because it was the only place with people packing the place, including locals and tour guides. Look on trip advisor or other places for reviews.
All'Antico Vinaio-notice the crowd
After lunch we walked back towards Il Duomo and some of the shops and outdoor kiosks. My DS and DW purchased some scarves but my wife wishes she would have picked up a small leather purse she saw so here’s her insight: if you see it, buy it now because you may not see it again. What this means is the tour we did in Rome had no shopping so she missed out. We guess we just have to go back.
Shopping
We continued walking around and each of us rubbed the boar’s nose (Il Porcellino) and dropped a coin in the fountain for good luck right outside one outside bazaar that had lots of leather goods. We shopped some more, got lost, and finally made our way back to the group.
Me and Il Porcellino with leather market behind me
Once our whole group was assembled we made our way back to the bus and left Florence. Our bus did go past an overlook of the city but could only slow down so pictures had to be taken thru the bus window.
Our bus had an exterior thermometer we could see and it read 34 C or about 93-94 F. After walking around a lot it felt good to get into the A/C and sit, and maybe nap, on the hour long drive to Pisa.
Once we arrived in Pisa we made our way to the bus parking lot. As soon as the doors opened the heat, and about 30 vendors selling sunglasses and umbrellas, descended on us. The vendors were not too aggressive but it was unexpected so just be prepared. We then had a 15-minute walk in the hot sun to a little shopping area just outside the walls to the Duomo di Pisa and the Tower. This area sells lots of trinkets and you can also buy a Rolex for €10!
Funny sign that vendors were selling the "Rolex" watches under
Souvenirs for sale
We then walked onto the grounds and had 30 minutes to explore and take pictures. We did all the usual “holding up the Leaning Tower” pictures and a few others. It was really funny looking at 100 different people doing different variations of the pose. We decided to use the restrooms, at a cost of 50 cents each person so be prepared.
Classic tourist pose
After walking around a little bit more we headed back to the meeting point and then back to the bus. After another 30-40 minute drive we were back at the ship. On the way back we could easily see the mountains above Carrara and the white marble strip mines. It was pretty neat seeing this area knowing it was from this area the marble for “David” and many other statues and buildings was mined centuries ago and continues to be mined.
The white is not snow but marble
We arrived back at the ship very tired. We had already decided we were going to skip tonight’s show and the main dining room and eat at Cabanas. We showered and went up and ate a nice dinner outside. The highlight was they had the desserts from the main dining rooms there that were really the only thing we wanted to try tonight. (Another tip: each restaurant’s menu is posted on the Navigator app so it was easy to check our options and decide whether or not to skip the dining room). After dinner we walked around deck, talked to some nice people we met from KC and just relaxed.
Note: We did use the free
DCL app on our iPhones during the trip. If you can’t get it to connect make sure you clear your browser history and your cookies out and then try to connect. I only know this because I had to seek assistance and this is all the nice cast member did to get my phone to work. We used it mainly to look at dinner menus but we also found the ability to favorite activities. This allowed a quick look at activities we wanted to attend.
Note, Part 2: I did purchase the mid sized internet package due to some family health issues with family back in the states. Because of my email it was eaten up pretty quick. I chose not to buy more but it was very easy to sign up for the service and check how much you have used. The nice thing is that it shuts off when you reach your limit, not continue to charge you without you knowing.
We got to bed fairly early again with another big day tomorrow in Rome. According to my DW’s fitbit we walked approximately 8.2 miles today! We loved Florence and definitely want to visit it again.
