Pisa and Florence

Hello!

They were lucky I was there to hold it up.

Time for another eventful weekend update! So this weekend I got the opportunity to go to Pisa and Florence! And I gotta say I probably saw more amazing sights in these two places than just about anywhere else so far. This was a really awesome trip and I cannot believe that I got the chance to see some of the amazing sights in these two cities. It all started on Friday morning when me and my roommate Felix hopped on a train at 8 in the morning and we were off to Pisa. We got to Pisa at around 1 in the afternoon and made our way to the most famous location in the town, the Leaning Tower of Pisa! It was across the town from the train station so it was a decent walk but on the way we stopped by a really small but cool church called the Santa Maria della Spina. This was a really small church but it had a ton of really cool little sculptures around it that made it really attractive on the outside. It was right on the River Arno too so it was a pretty scenic location which was nice. After checking out the little church we finally ended up at the Leaning Tower of Pisa. And I'll be honest the first time I saw it the tower was a little smaller than I thought but still nothing short of amazing. I could not believe that I was actually looking at the tower. The tower is also situated near this really amazing cathedral and baptistry which provided for an incredible setting. Once we got there, we ate some lunch then got our tickets to go to the top of the tower! It was nice because there really wasn't much of a line and the weather was pretty clear and not too chilly. As soon as I approached the entrance I was so blown away I was about to enter the tower. The entrance was even leaning to the side and when you walk in you can even feel the lean as you're going up the stairs! The stairs led to a middle floor where you can go out on a surrounding balcony of the tower and walk all the way around and it was definitely a little scary! The lean made for a hesitant feeling when I stood on the outside of the tower but it was still really cool. We then proceeded up to the top balcony of the tower and the view was really nice. There were a number of really neat bells situated at the top and I was able to see the entire cathedral and baptistry which was awesome. From there, we were able to go to the very top of the tower where you had the best view of the town. You can pretty much see all of Pisa from up there since it's a relatively small town and you can also see the surrounding hillsides of Tuscany. This was a truly amazing point of the trip and I even made an attempt to call my parents when I was at the top just because I was so excited haha.

A view from the top of the Leaning Tower of Pisa!

After getting some really neat pictures at the top (check Facebook!) we headed back down and went inside the cathedral which was also pretty incredible (like just about every cathedral in Italy). After the cathedral, we walked back to the train station and hopped on one of the many trains to Florence. When we first got to Florence we headed to the hostel to check in and it turned out to be a pretty nice place. There was cool writing and artwork all over the walls from people that have stayed there before and it was just a really nice, modern facility. They offer free dinner and breakfast so I couldn't complain and there was free internet as well. We got there in the evening so we basically just hung out at the hostel for a bit and we ended up meeting some pretty cool guys from Nice, France. There were two of them and they were just staying for the night so we all went out and headed to a couple of discos. When we arrived at one of the discos it was still a little early so we walked around a little more, ended up getting some Kebab (best food item in the world) and then headed to another disco. Unfortunately, for some reason this disco was closed and by this time it was getting a little late, everyone wanted to head back to the hotel. I, however, wanted to check out the first disco we left before, so I went back out and checked it out for myself. When I got there it was a really cool venue.

The Duomo!

The club was called "Space" and it had two floors, the first floor had a neat bar and the second floor was the dance floor. Unfortunately it wasn't very crowded at the time so the club was a little slow but it was the first one I had been to in Europe so it was pretty cool. After checking that out I headed back to the hostel and got some sleep. The next day we woke up for some free breakfast where I had an awesome omelet and we got ready just in time for a free 2 hour tour of the main part of the city from the hostel. It was really cool and I learned some new things about the history of the city and we got to see a lot of the really cool sites. There were a lot of really nice little churches including the main attraction of Florence, the Duomo (main cathedral). This was by far the largest cathedral I have ever seen and one of the most amazing sights I have ever seen. This thing absolutely blew me away and I could not believe what I was seeing. It was absolutely massive and it was really neat to see. After that, the group continued on to what was known as Dante's cathedral (named after Dante Alighieri, the major Italian poet). That was really neat to see and from there we went to a few more sites before stopping in a really cool area in front of the world famous Uffizi museum filled with replicas and some originals of some really cool statues. After the tour we ended up going nearby to check out the most famous bridge in Florence, the Ponte Vecchio, which was really neat. From there we headed back to the hostel, took a short break, then made our way to the Duomo. Once we got there we went inside and it was HUGE. I could not believe the size of it when I went inside, absolutely gigantic. After walking around inside we then took the challenge of ascending to the top of the Duomo. It was a total of about 460-something steps, definitely a bit of a hike but well worth it. On the way up there was a point where we actually got to walk around the inside of the Duomo, suspended on a protected walkway probably nearly 200ft. above the inside of the Duomo! It was nuts and I think the pictures speak for themselves. That was definitely the scariest part of the climb. After that, a few more stairways and we got to the top. The top of the Florence Duomo was quite possibly one of the coolest views I have ever seen. You can see the entire city from the top and it was truly incredible. Again, check the pics because it really is quite indescribable, you can basically see everything. We spent a good amount of time at the top of the Duomo, soaking in the view and then we headed back down. We were even higher up on the inside of the Duomo on the way down. At just about where the paintings on the inside of the Dome start! (check the pics it's crazy). After we got all the way down, looking back up at the Duomo, it really hit me, and I was just in shock for a good hour after that, I simply could not believe it. Right after that we headed over to the Galleria dell'Accademia where the original statue of David, carved by Michelangelo, is held. I'll be honest I'm not extremely into the whole art thing, and after seeing a replica of this statue at the end of the tour that day, I didn't think the original would be much different. But, when we got to where the original statue was, I was absolutely blown away.

A view from the top of the Duomo

This was truly a work of art and I think I really started to appreciate art a little more after I saw this. This thing was MUCH bigger than the replica and stood about 17 feet tall! It was huge, and the thought of me looking at an original work by Michelangelo made it that much cooler. Again, words can barely describe, and unfortunately they don't allow any pictures in the museum so you'll have to go see for yourselves! After seeing David we walked around a little more and basically just hung out for the rest of the evening, We were pretty beat so we didn't really go out that night. We were able to wake up relatively early the next morning on Sunday and the first place we went to was the Galileo Museum. This place was pretty cool but unfortunately we could not take pictures in here either. But they had a lot of old scientific tools here including the telescopes and tools that Galileo himself used. The coolest exhibits in this museum were the actual authentic telescopes that Galileo used as well as three of his preserved fingers! That was pretty crazy to see. And after that we went to the Santa Croce Church, which contains the tombs of Galileo and Michelangelo! I was pretty stoked to go in here and when I did, right inside on the left and right hand sides of the church were the tombs of Galileo and Michelangelo. Galileo on the left wall and Michelangelo on the right. I could not believe I was standing a few feet from the resting places of these two amazingly influential people. (Check Facebook for the pictures!). This was an awesome sight and after this, we walked around a little bit more, and made our way to the train station. From this point on an adventure in itself was created. To make a long story short, (since this post is already long enough) we basically missed our train in one of the transfer stations on the way back and instead of coming back to Torino at 9:47pm we got back at 12:40am haha. And we originally left Florence at 2:28pm! (we might as well have taken a flight back to San Francisco!) Oh well, I guess that's what long layovers will do after missing the train. But it's all part of the experience haha. All in all though this trip (like all the others) has proven to be quite an unforgettable experience that I will surely cherish for the rest of my life. I would have never thought that I would be standing at the top of the Leaning Tower of Pisa or the Duomo of Florence, but there I was, and I am forever grateful to have experienced it. Well, that about wraps it up for Pisa and Florence haha. I guess that there is enough to say and plenty to see about these two places so until my next trip,

PEACE