A LEANING TOWER AND THE BIRTHPLACE OF THE RENAISSANCE

A LEANING TOWER AND THE BIRTHPLACE OF THE RENAISSANCE!

Thursday, October 18: Livorno, Italy. Tour Florence and Pisa.

We met Kelly, David, Lance, Lori, Barb, and Debbie at 7:30 a.m. for another full day with romeinlimo. Today our skillful romeinlimo driver was Gianmaria (John). We drove through Tuscany, past U.S. Army Base, Camp Darby, a memory from my year in France. That story is definitely for another day! The day was sunny and warm.

Pisa, only about ½ hour from the ship, is a city in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the River Arno. Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower (the bell tower of the city's cathedral), with an unintended tilt to one side. The bell tower was begun in 1173 and completed in 1319. The city of over 88,000 residents (around 200,000 with the metropolitan area) contains more than 20 other historic churches, several palaces, and various bridges across the River Arno. Today the tower has been fortified underground so it is not in danger of collapsing. The marble on the cathedral, the baptistery, and the bell tower has been cleaned archivally and is again the purest of white. In 1967, my first visit, the tower was almost black from the atmosphere of the ages.

Florence is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area.  A centre of medieval European trade and finance and one of the wealthiest cities of the time, Florence is considered the birthplace of the Renaissance, and has been called the Athens of the Middle Ages. A turbulent political history includes periods of rule by the powerful Medici family, and numerous religious and republican revolutions.

First we viewed the city from atop a hill—where we could see the Duomo, the Baptistery, Giotto’s tower, Ponte Vecchia, and other historic sites. Then John took us downhill to the city by van to see the Duomo (major cathedral of Florence [Firenze]). I particularly wanted to see Ghiberti’s Doors of Paradise, spectacular images in bronze on a huge door of the Baptistery. The original is now inside the Cathedral.

We also visited Ponte Vecchia where I had a chance to buy jewelry, and marketplace. We had lunch in ______. Both TK and I had lasagna with meat—very good. The pasta in the restaurants we have visited in Italy has been handmade, and so very good!!

 

We finished with strawberry and cheesecake gelato for me and chocolate and hazelnut gelato for TK at Gelateria La Carraia (near another bridge on the Arno—Piazza N. Sauro—www.lacarriagroup.eu), the best gelateria in Florence, John told us.

Florence is a wonderful cultural center in Italy, full of museums and public art, as well as sophisticated shopping!

We were very tired on the hour ride back to the ship. We went right to O’Sheehan’s for dinner and then watched the ship depart from Livorno. Writing, then to bed again tonight!

 TK’s Take: He likes the highways in Europe. He isn’t crazy about the plumbing. There are not too many public restrooms and when we do find one, it costs ½ euro (about $.75)

Janie’s Take: Toilet paper in Europe has improved immensely since the 1960s!