Florence and Pisa

The train voyage from Venice to Florence passed without incident. It was about a two-hour trip in a well-appointed second-class car. We bought tickets for the late morning and so brought lunch materials with us to share on the journey. Arriving at the station in central Florence, we walked the six or seven blocks to our hotel, the Centro, close by the Duomo, the mammoth cathedral in the centre of the city. We were happy to note that a grocery store was next to our hotel, a place of provision for our on-going needs: water, milk, yogurt, apples, biscuits and cheese. Our room here is the most pleasant to date. A large window opens onto a side street, giving us lots of both light and air. We have our own washroom, a ceiling fan, and workable internet connections. We spent the afternoon and evening walking about this beautiful inner city, ending at the restaurant in Piazza Santa Croce where Theoren and I had had such fabulous lasagna a couple of years ago. Emily and I had dinner there, enjoying the views and, of course, the great pasta. Afterward we sat on a ledge in the Piazza Della Signoria, the central square of Florence, listening to the music of a classically-trained guitar player. Many stood or sat about listening, applauding, and before leaving, buying his CDs. We did the same. The Piazza Della Signoria stands in front of the imposing ancient fortress which once housed the republican-style government of the city state as it developed in the early middle-ages. Later the Medici family took over the republic and impressed their own brand of rule on the people. Adjacent is a large, raised and covered dias, a “loggia” containing an array of enormous statuary from the early Roman and Greek eras to that of the Renaissance. In the Piazza Della Signoria itself is a copy of Michelangelo’s David; the original had been removed to a local museum to protect it from the elements – human and otherwise, no doubt. Perpendicular to the Piazza is the famed Uffizzi Museum, once a Medici palace. The next morning, Thursday, Emily and I slept in late, missing breakfast at our hotel. Once organized, we headed back to the Piazza and the Uffuzzi. Emily’s mom, Catherine, has a print of Botticelli’s painting Primavera hanging in her bedroom and Emily was keen to see the original. The wait time for entrance was about 1 ½ hours but the line-up remained within the colonnaded front of the building, keeping us sheltered from the bright sun. We spent about 1-2 hours walking about the museum, looking at its collection of pre-Renaissance and Renaissance painters. I gave Emily benefit of my rather limited knowledge of art history and also of the biblical and Christian themes in the paintings. She was interested in all that we saw. Afterward we returned to Santa Croce, this time to tour its interior. It has been a favorite of mine since I first saw A Room With a View. We moved about making special note of the luminaries buried there – Michelangelo himself among others. After lunch and a rest we went to the train station to buy tickets for a visit to Pisa the next day. As we left the station, I saw a bus heading for Piazzale Michelangelo, a plaza on a high point on the opposite side of the Arno River that affords a fabulous over-view of Florence with its red roofs and domes. We hopped on the bus and drove through parts of Florence which we hadn’t seen, winding gradually up into the hills past lushly green farm plots and gardens. At the Piazzale we found a spot overlooking the town to have a simple supper. Later we walked back down to the town from there, passing over the Ponte Vecchio, the old bridge which has still a super-structure of housing dating back to the middle-ages. These buildings now are all used by gold and silver shops. That evening the bridge was filled with young people listening to musicians camped along its sides. On Friday we were up early to ensure getting our breakfast before heading for Pisa. The trip takes only an hour though there are several other stops along the route. Tickets are sold for use over a two month period, any time a train is going; validation requires stamping the ticket in a machine in the station before boarding. Like most others we purchased ours in a machine in the station. There was no indication on the ticket or on the machine that this validation was required. Needless to say, our tickets did not have it. Half-way to Pisa I heard the conductor scolding a group of English-speaking young people for not having their tickets stamped. They argued with him about not knowing of this requirement but he was adamant that they would have to pay a fine of 40 Euros. Take your penance, he said! I had no wish to be placed in this position so I roused Emily, who was asleep in her seat, and we bustled out of the compartment in the opposite direction. We kept going along through several cars until we passed another conductor, a pleasant-looking fellow who simply wished us Good Day, found a couple of empty seats, and before long, were safely released to the wonders of Pisa. I definitely made certain to stamp our ticket on the return trip! The church complex visited by all tourists to this region is off to one side of the actual city of Pisa but is on a now underground tributary of the Arno River, the location of the early settlement of this town. It consists of three large buildings clad in white marble: the cathedral, baptistery, and the bell tower – the famed leaning tower of Pisa. The shift in the tower’s angle began not too long after it was built due to the texture of the area’s sub-soil. The angle continued to increase over the centuries but about 20 years ago – a few years after Elizabeth and I climbed it in our 1988 visit, the tower was closed and work was done to ensure its safety. Emily and I arrived shortly after 11AM and moved straight through the area to buy our tickets to climb the tower. Entrances are timed, ensuring that only a relatively small group enters the tower at a time. There are approximately 300 steps to the top and these wind up the interior of the tower, decreasing in width as one progresses. Passing a person who is descending becomes more and more problematical the nearer one comes to the top. The very last tier is so narrow that passing is not possible; staff positioned at the top regulates the comings and goings at that level. Along the way up there are a few crevices to the side with mesh barricades, preventing one from falling to the earth but allowing a view of the surroundings below, within which one can stop and catch one’s breath. Our ticket was for 12:20 so we hadn’t long to wait. We ambled about the adjacent shops stopping for our traditional morning gelato, took a few pictures, boarded my backpack as required and headed with our cohorts for the top. We took a couple of breathers but before long were up among the clouds. It is a spectacular view, not only of the city itself but of the hills and mountains in the distance and of the green and lush nearby countryside. Emily took a series of pictures and arranged herself in various serious and silly poses for me. Before long we were ordered to be off as the next group was to be given their chance. Not exactly what the church fathers those many centuries ago had in mind for their bell tower, but still, the whole experience is thrilling and awe-inspiring as it brings one closer to the heavens and to a connection with the efforts of humans to express their longings for the ineffable. After a brief visit to the cathedral we returned by local bus to the train station and to Florence. A rest and refreshments in our hotel room was followed by an evening walk out once again through the town and to the Piazza Della Signoria to sit with the other patrons, taking in the evening air and the strains of the classical guitar. The next morning, Saturday, we would be off to Rome, the final destination in our tour, so we prepared our belongings, made our usual calls to TO via Skype, and headed for bed.