Pisa and Florence

We left Cinque Terre, with fond memories, but the desire for a bigger city: Florence. Before we rolled into the city known as Firenze (a small fact we learned after we couldn’t find Florence on the train schedule) we made a quick stop in Pisa for pizza and the token photo in front of the leaning tower. Come to find out, while the building is lovely, it is really nothing more than the glorification of just bad architecture. I mean, no where else would people travel in order to see a building falling over…I can see that for free in San Francisco.

2 hours later, we were back on our way to Florence, with no expectations or plans other than to see Michaelangeo’s David. The thing about expectations though, is if you set them low enough, you will always be pleasantly surprised. We took a walk around the city after dinner that night and met a few local gentlemen (Mimmi, the lawyer, Glady, the scooter-rider and Flobi, the economist), willing to show us around.

First stop of was Friends Bar along the Arno River, followed by a view of the city from Piazzale Michelangelo, the site of David 2.0 (an outdoor replica of the original David). Afraid we weren’t going to be able to see the real David the following morning, we climbed the 190 stairs (did I mention that Neff likes to count stairs?) for the view and photos in front of the replica. We were in fact able to see the original the following day (again it helps to travel in November) however the replica was just as amazing, plus we were able to take photos with David 2.0.

Other highlights of Florence included: gelato at the locals favorite spot (over 40 flavors), a great vintage shop near our hotel, the various street vendors, and the impossible to navigate winding streets (we managed to get lost on our way to the hotel, to dinner, and back to the hotel after drinks and the tour of the city).