Pisa and Florence
My planned early awakening Sunday morning happened promptly at 6am. However it was rather brief as I rolled over and went back to sleep until 8:30.
Breakfast was a rather salty bacon and eggs at a restaurant a few metres away from the hotel. The name escapes me since I didn't even bother to learn it, having no desire to give it any sort of on line review.
We set off for the Field of Miracles just before 10, surprised to find that few tourists had arrived yet. A visit to the Museum of the Sinopias afforded us a view of many of the frescoes from the Camposanto Cemetery. Originally a hospital, the lighting was rather subdued hiding many of the details of the faded frescoes.
With it being Sunday we decided to postpone our visit to the Duomo until the afternoon, when most of the Masses had been completed.
Instead we spent a couple of hours exploring the downtown and riverside areas. I think we were the only ones heading in that direction as we passed hundreds of tourists heading north from the main train station towards the Tower.
Pisa is actually home to quite a number of towers and several churches, but the only one getting much attention has a 15 degree lean.
Again, because it was Sunday, many of the Squares and Plazas were empty and most stores closed. That made for a more enjoyable walk as the streets were far from crowded.
After spending time taking photos of the buildings we returned to the Duomo to explore its interior.
Massive doesn't quite cover the description of this structure. Besides the central nave and the area under the dome, the rest of the church was roped off due to restoration work, although much of the roped off area was still quite visible except for a few small portions surrounded by construction shields. The entire perimeter was covered by several large paintings, the details of which are beyond the scope of this blog. The main pulpit was probably the most visually impressive feature of the building. Built around 1310 and made of stone, it is octagonal in shape, almost 15 feet high and featured carvings illustrating the life of Christ from a Mary's pregnancy and birth to Christ's death and the Last Judgement. I'll attempt to upload a few photos but otherwise it should be easy to google.
Also of note were the three intricately carved bronze doors on the west side of the building featuring 24 panels which also illustrated the life of Christ.
Monday 18th
After a quick and early coffee and a muffin at McD we finished packing, checked out of our hotel and set off for the station. As luck would have it, the skies opened up and, by the time we reached the station we were pretty well soaked.
We arrived in Florence shortly after noon and found our way to Le Contesse B&B, roughly 1.5km away on the opposite side of the town centre. We were too wet to care as we trekked past the Duomo and other key sights.
A change of clothing later we had lunch in a recommended Osteria and then began our exploration of the city.
Breakfast was a rather salty bacon and eggs at a restaurant a few metres away from the hotel. The name escapes me since I didn't even bother to learn it, having no desire to give it any sort of on line review.
We set off for the Field of Miracles just before 10, surprised to find that few tourists had arrived yet. A visit to the Museum of the Sinopias afforded us a view of many of the frescoes from the Camposanto Cemetery. Originally a hospital, the lighting was rather subdued hiding many of the details of the faded frescoes.
With it being Sunday we decided to postpone our visit to the Duomo until the afternoon, when most of the Masses had been completed.
Instead we spent a couple of hours exploring the downtown and riverside areas. I think we were the only ones heading in that direction as we passed hundreds of tourists heading north from the main train station towards the Tower.
Pisa is actually home to quite a number of towers and several churches, but the only one getting much attention has a 15 degree lean.
Again, because it was Sunday, many of the Squares and Plazas were empty and most stores closed. That made for a more enjoyable walk as the streets were far from crowded.
After spending time taking photos of the buildings we returned to the Duomo to explore its interior.
Massive doesn't quite cover the description of this structure. Besides the central nave and the area under the dome, the rest of the church was roped off due to restoration work, although much of the roped off area was still quite visible except for a few small portions surrounded by construction shields. The entire perimeter was covered by several large paintings, the details of which are beyond the scope of this blog. The main pulpit was probably the most visually impressive feature of the building. Built around 1310 and made of stone, it is octagonal in shape, almost 15 feet high and featured carvings illustrating the life of Christ from a Mary's pregnancy and birth to Christ's death and the Last Judgement. I'll attempt to upload a few photos but otherwise it should be easy to google.
Also of note were the three intricately carved bronze doors on the west side of the building featuring 24 panels which also illustrated the life of Christ.
Monday 18th
After a quick and early coffee and a muffin at McD we finished packing, checked out of our hotel and set off for the station. As luck would have it, the skies opened up and, by the time we reached the station we were pretty well soaked.
We arrived in Florence shortly after noon and found our way to Le Contesse B&B, roughly 1.5km away on the opposite side of the town centre. We were too wet to care as we trekked past the Duomo and other key sights.
A change of clothing later we had lunch in a recommended Osteria and then began our exploration of the city.
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