Florence and Pisa

Our first time travelling on the trains with our bikes still built. All went really well. It was way less stressful on both body and mind.

Once we arrived in Florence we headed straight to the campsite which just so happens to have one of the best views of Florence. The campground sits in an olive grove on the side of one of the hills surrounding Florence.

We set up camp and headed to the on site pub for some beers and a chill out. While we were there we watched a rain storm coming in from Siena and dump for about 5 mins (just enough to cool it down)before clearing right up again.

Saturday

We got up and had our regular coffee before hitting the town on foot.

We started from Piazza Michaelangelo, which has the best view of the city (I conceed it is better than the view from the campsite - but only just).

From there we walked down into town and to the main Catherdal. You've gotta hand it to the Italians - they really know how to do gawdy! We climbed the 427 steps to the cupola (dome) - what an awesome view.

From the church we wondered around Florence visiting the various piazza's and spots of interest including; the famous Porte Vacchio - jewelery, the street markets. We wondered up past the Boboli Gardens and Palazza Pitti in San Niccolo on the long way back to the campsite.

Sunday

We got up and on the move early this morning. Our destination was to see 'David' and we were not prepared to wait in line for hours. The Musee opened at 8.15am so we arrived at 7.30am and were about 10th in line.

David is very impressive - he stands 513cm and was carved out of a single piece of marble that wasn't deemed suitable for the Catherdal. The detail is amazing - the veins in his right hand, the creases in his knuckle joints. The wait in line was totally worthwhile.

Once we had finished looking around the Museum we dediced that as it was still early and the weather was awesome that we would jump on a train and head to Pisa.

When you think of Pisa you think of the leaning tower, however, the tower, a campanile (bell tower) for the Catherdal is only one of 2 buildings that are actually leaning. The 2nd being the Baptistry - the lean on the baptistry is only slight. So much so that I thought I was imagining it. It wasn't until we were back in the campsite that we learned that the Baptistry also has a lean.

The whole complex is so beautful. I thought that the Catherdal was actually a lot more interesting than the leaning tower. The way it was built and the colours of the marble used. It was beautiful without going over the top.

After grabbing an awesome lunch at a roadside cafe we jumped back on the train and headed back to Florence.

Click here to see some pics