July 3, Florence, Pisa, and Cinque Terre. July 3

For Burt's last day in Italy we got an early start and prepared for a full day. First we had breakfast in the apartment and then we headed over to the station to catch a train to Pisa and begin our adventures for the day. 

An hour later we arrived in Pisa and began walking through the town to make our way to the legendary leaning tower. 

 

This ornate structure was just on the side of the road near the bridge.  Such pretty detail. There is a modern art scuplture out front. One of many that we saw as we went through the town. Pisa, like the other towns we have visited, is full of sculptures and old detailed bulidings. However, we saw the more modern art sculpters here than anywhere else. It was an interesting juxtaposition. 

 

Beautiful view as we crossed the bridge. 

 

We happened upon a nearly desserted square with this building af one end. Beautiful architectural detail for a school. 

The road signs here make me giggle. "Mustache ahead"

 

This tiny little truck is so adorable. I think every little miniature thing I see is so cute! Burt rolls his eyes at me but humors me and snaps a photo. 

 

 Consulting the map we round the corner saying "It should be just up ahead", and there it is...

 

 

And here are all the people. We barely saw anyone on our walk over here, and now we see why. They are all at the tower. 

 

 

 

 

We found a pizzaria where we had lunch with a view of the tower. From this angle it doesn't even appear to be leaning because we are directly in front of it. 

 

A Pisa pizza......

Now back on the train to go to La Spezia. 

 

We arrived in La Spezia and boarded the Cinque Terre express, a train that travels between the 5 hillside villiages and back. 

 

We came out of a tunnlel and there was the sea. So beautiful...

First stop, Montessoro

 

 

 

This little town is very much a tiny resort town. It reminded us of Catalina Island. But much hotter. Really hot. Really, realy hot. I am jealous of the people at the beach. 

Back on the train to Vernazza, villiage number two. 

 

 

We climbed up a gazillion tiny steps to the ruins of a fortess high above the town where we had the most amazing panoramic view. Then up a narrow spiraling staircase to the top of a little tower. 

 

 

 

 

Back on the train, we headed toward the next town. We got off at the next stop and realized that Corniglia was quite a walk from the train stop. Uphill. In the heat. 

We decided that we were done. We were tired and hot. Very very hot. So much for it being a lot cooler by the coast.  

So we got back on the train. Back to La Spezia, and then back to Pisa, and then back to Florence. Then a cool shower 😊 

Ready for dinner, we went for an early evening stroll to find something with a view. 

 With the help of Google we found a lovely little restaurant overlooking the river where we had an apertivo. 

 

 

 

The view from our table. 

 

After dinner we strolled over the Ponte Vecchio bridge and through the streets downtown which were bustling with people. Now that the heat of the day is mellowing down the nightlife is just getging started.

 

 

A gellato is the perfect thing for an after-dinner treat as we walk along.

 

 

Wow! That is enormous. (It cost as much as my dinner)

 

No way can I finish this whole thing. Well, maybe....

 

 

 

 

I like Florence best at night. With the lights and the beautiful architecture, bridges, towers and sculptures around nearly every corner it seems magical. Also, it is not quite as hot. 

June 30: Rome Colosseum, Forum, & Paltine Hill

Thursday, June 30. Our second day in Rome. 

We got on the hop on city sightseing tour bus and headed over to the Colosseum first thing. 

 

We signed up for a guided skip-the-line tour with the bus company. 

 

Our tour guide was a young man named John. He is from Serbia and studies archaeology at the university in Rome. He was an excellent guide, very knowledgable, and spoke very good english. 

He started the tour by explaining the history of Rome, both factual events and the Roman myths and legends. He explained the myth of Romulus and Remus, and mentioned the statues which we had noticed all over the city that show a she-wolf nursing two babies. Then he told us the factual theory that historians have about Romulus and Remus. The tour was so much more interesting because our guide brought his wealth of scholarly information. 

 

The first sight he showed us was fairly recently unearthed. It is the ruins of a structure which had served as a housing and training location for gladiators.  There had previously been underground tunnels which connected it to the Colosseum. We learned all about thelife and history of the gladiators of ancient Rome. 

Next we walked over to the Colosseum to have a tour and learn about the plans, construction and use of this enormous arena. 

 

 
 

 

 

 

After the Colosseum we walked over to Pallatine Hill where the ruins of the center of ancient roman life can be found. We saw the remains of a roman upperclass noble's home, the forum, and more. 

 

 

This would have been a two story roman dwelling. Top floor for sleeping etc, and bottom floor for cooking and eating. 

This is a row of dwellings, connected like ancient Roman condos. 

Accross the way from the "condo" is the forum and the center of Roman life.

 

 Our tour complete, we hopped back on the bus and went downtown to get lunch. We were so hungry after all that walking that we made the unfortunate decision to go to the first restaurant we stumbled accross, rather than look for something that was recommended. 

 

The food was mediocre and over-priced. Something that has been a frustration for us is the fact that you can't just drink tap water in a restaurant in Italy. We ended up spending seven euro just for water with lunch. Even if you order wine you still have to pay for water.

 

Back to our room for a nap for Burt and a shower for me. This time we took the metro because it is quicker and we were tired. 

It has been so hot and humid that a cool shower is just the thing to make me feel refreshed in the afternoon. 

 

We decided to go to the "Monti" neighborhood for dinner. From what I can gather it is a kind of urban hipster foodie neighborhood with an active night life where the young people like to hang out. 

 

This is a square with a fountain in the middle of Monti. It is packed with a crowd of young people. Many are gathered on the fountain steps eating, drinking, and smoking. 

We had a progressive dinner, starting with an apertivo (wine and appetizers) at a wine bar, then tacos and mojitos at an art and taco shop, and finally gelatto while we walked back over to the colosseum to see it at night.  

 

Wine bar.......First course....

Tacos. Not as good as back home, but not bad. I thought the taco with avocados and jalapeno jam was pretty tasty. 

 

So many flavors! I got coffee & Tirimisu, and Burt got orange and strawberry. They were all good!

 

 

Colosseum at night. So pretty.... 

 

Now back to our hotel. We took the metro and it was the line that runs through the edgier part of town. Lots of grafiti. I was that glad I had Burt with me.