Florence, Italy's Renaissance City and Pisa

Florence is a really beautiful city and I did not give myself enough time there. I arrived towards evening, and found my hostel with only a little trouble. Unfortunately I had failed to send them my arrival time, so waited in the stairwell (someone came out as I hit the button to get in) for a while, before deciding to go find help. I went across the street to a restaurant where the manager let me use the internet to find the phone number, and called the hostel owner for me. Apparently they know each other (or perhaps people request his phone on a regular basis?), but after that I was good to go. I was also exhausted, so am sad to say I didn't leave the hostel that night.

The next morning it was pouring rain outside, so I decided to relax inside for a bit, waiting for the weather to clear. Fortunately it did and I had a gloriously sunny and warm day in Florence. I first walked through the leather market that I had heard about (by accident), and got to test the real leather with a lighter (real leather won't burn). It was fun to see people testing out the different products. Then I used my Rick Steve's app to give me a tour of the Duomo and surrounding neighborhood. I probably looked goofy, but I sure enjoyed my walk around knowing what I was looking at!

Leather market patrons

The Duomo in its PJs (apparently people don't like the style of this cathedral),
but it's become iconic of Florence. The dome in the background was not a part of
the original building, the builders did not know how to finish it and assumed
the technology would be developed eventually!

These doors are a really important part of the beginning of the Renaissance, and I was lucky to
see them without bars (and didn't even realize it). I heard a tour guide say "you're lucky to see
them like this" to her group, and then five minutes later the gates had gone up!

Here's the Duomo with "Giotto's Bell Tower" that you can climb up (for a fee). I enjoyed it from the ground.

This old church was one of my favorite spots in Florence.
It used to be a grain warehouse before becoming a church,
and you can still see the chutes in the large pillars where
grain was sent down from the upper levels.

Art in situ, how it is meant to be seen. In the Church of
Orsanmichele. The church was built as a grain market in
1337.

The replica of Michelangelo's David in front of the Palazzo della Signoria.

Real people live in these ancient cities, and even hang their clothes out to dry
(dryers were not common anywhere I went it seemed...)

Not sure what this tower was, but I liked it! On my walk
to the panoramic viewpoint of Florence.

Me with Florence behind me....too bad I'm not even in focus!

Still at the viewpoint, with a view of a medieval wall running up the hillside.

Tree.

Nice view of buildings across the river in Florence.

Old man waiting for the bus. He got up and moved after
I took this picture, not sure if he knew I took it or not.

This was my dinner in Florence, which was shared with a mother-daughter
pair from Syracuse, NY. We enjoyed four full glasses of wine in an hour, and
these meats and cheeses were so delicious I didn't need any more food.

The next morning I woke up fairly early so that I could get in line at the museum where Michelangelo's David is housed. I kept reading that it was not to be missed. So I forked over my 11 Euros (even though I thought it was only going to be 6) and headed inside with Rick Steves to guide me. The statue is quite impressive, bigger than life, and I did spend about half an hour with it. But I probably could have saved my money and stared longer at the replica that exists in the place where it was intended to be. Live and learn I suppose.

I was running out of time and had to get back for my train to Pisa. Like I said, I did not give myself enough time in Florence. Just another reason to go back! I knew that Pisa wouldn't require much time, and I'm glad I only gave it a couple hours because it was horribly windy and rainy when I got there. I snapped some photos, stood in awe of how much the tower actually leans, laughed at people doing the "I'm holding it up!" photos, and headed back for the train station and on to Cinque Terre, a highlight of my trip to Italy.

My very first view of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. I was
pretty impressed and happy I made the trip.

The tower does not stand alone, but is part of a large religious complex, like
so many other impressive structures in Europe.

Again, what's with the blurry photos!

We all crowded under what little cover there was because the wind made
our umbrellas irrelevant in the rain.

Holding it up? Just move a little left!

This guy was kicking it over, a difficult picture to compose when
you are not well versed in yoga! (And this man was not...)
This photo also shows how much the tower actually leans!

The rain wouldn't stop this one!

Hunchback of Torre Pisa...