Arrivederci Italy

It was our last stop in Italy today, the port of Livorno.  We booked again with Rome In Limo Tour Sharing their Pisa and Florence Tour (110 Euros / person since we could not find a sixth person to join the tour).  For this tour, we were joined by Mariana, her mother and her aunt who are all from Brazil.  Tour sharing is a great way of meeting new people.  We all found Simonia (our guide) at the same time and then we headed to the van.  Normally the tour starts in Pisa and ends in Florence but since Mariana booked the Accademia tickets for 11:45am, we reversed the order.  The drive to Florence, which took about an hour and a half,  was through beautiful Tuscan countryside and we even stopped to check out some grapes of a vineyard.  Before going into Florence, we stopped at Piazzale Michelangelo so that we could enjoy the panaromic view of Florence.

Tuscan countryside
grapes
view of Florence
view of Ponte Vecchio
Duomo
“David” at Piazzale Michelangelo

 

We got lucky and Simonia was able to find an awesome parking spot once we arrived in Florence.  This tour was different than yesterday’s in that Simonia actually accompanied us for a lot of our tour and not just dropping us off at points and then meeting back up later.  Karen and I were not able to get tickets for the Accademia where Michelangelo’s statue of David is but it actually turned out fine since we were able to do more exploring of Florence.  Simonia wanted to make sure that Mariana and her family got to the Accademia in time for their tour, so she walked them over while Karen and I checked out the Duomo.  It is Florence’s Gothic Cathedral and it is covered with pink, green and white Tuscan marble.  We took many pictures but it is something that needs to be experienced in person.

Duomo
Duomo
Duomo
Duomo
Duomo
Duomo
Duomo
Duomo
Campanile

 

After Simonia dropped the others off, she met up with us at the Dumo and we all walked around together for a short while.  She told us about a few places that were close by and that we should see.  We said our goodbyes to Simonia and off we went.  First we headed to Ponte Vecchio, Florence’s famous bridge which is lined with the most jewellery stores I have ever seen in my life.  We then went to check out the statues in Palazzo Della Signoria.  We met back up with the group at 1:15pm at Piazza Della Repubblica and then walked to Forno Sartoni for a quick lunch.  The bakery is located down a side street and I think only locals know about the place.  Everyone enjoyed their lunches and it was quite cheap.  I paid only three Euros for a slice of pizza, a donut and a bottle of water.  We finished our lunches and Simonia gave us another forty-five minutes of free time.  Karen and I started walking and we stumbled upon a gelato place where we sat down and enjoyed our Peach/Watermelon (me) and Banana Split/Chocolate (Karen).  We did a bit more walking/exploring near the Piazza Della Repubblica.  We met up with the others and started the one and a half hour drive (free Wi-Fi again) to Pisa.

funky sign (many through town with various pictures)
statue outside of a church
street art
leather market
Ponte Vecchio bridge
view from Ponte Vecchio bridge
watch out for the scooters
Palazzo Della Signoria
too many choices

 

Luck was on our side again since Simonia was able to park only a two minute walk to The Leaning Tower of Pisa.  It is so weird that you driving through a town and all of a sudden there’s the tower.  Mariana was the only brave one who was going to climb the tower while the rest of us watched.  We also did the obligatory push the tower back pictures.  It was very funny watching the various poses that people would do.  Before heading back to the ship, we stopped and had gelato.  This time I had Macadamia nut topped with whip cream.  All gelato shall be topped that way in the future.  It took about a half an hour to get back to the port.  We said our goodbyes to Simonia and promised that we would return.   We also said goodbye to our new fiends and then we boarded the ship.

Leaning Tower of Pisa
mandatory picture
love watching people pose
Leaning Tower of Pisa

 

Since we have a specialty restaurant booked for tomorrow night, we thought we should enjoy our second last dinner in the Windows Main Dining Room.  Karen and I each had the Garden Spring Mix Salads to start.  For our entrees Karen went with the Basil Chicken Alfredo while I had the BBQ Mixed Grill.  I forgot to take a picture of the desert menu but  I remember Karen had something chocolately and I had Apple Pie A La Mode.  Everyone was telling us that we should go see the production show called “Elements”.  It was a combination of Cirque Du Soleil and a magic show.  It was weird.  After the show, the cruise director came on stage and brought out what seemed to be the entire crew of the Norwegian Spirit.  It is always a treat to see all of the people that make our cruise enjoyable.

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