Here are some photos from our Tuesday morning visit to Pisa. What a climb!
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Pisa and Lucca
Our final day in Florence included a day trip to Pisa and Lucca. We took the morning train to the city of Pisa. We headed immediately to the Leaning tower. Grace and Violet said they were up for some exercise so we decided to climb to the top of the tower. We all concluded that the climb was more intense than the Duomo in Florence. We made it to the top safely and we all experienced a little vertigo once we made our way to the perch. The views were awesome, but you could definitely feel the tilt of the tower at the top.
After the visit to Pisa we took a train to Lucca. This is a old but small Italian city surrounded by a sixteenth century wall that encircles the entire city. The wall is a hundred feet wide and is built with stones and brick. Lucca has a bike path at the top of the wall. We rented some bikes and took a spin around the top of the wall. It was really pretty. The path is lined with trees so you get to ride in the shade and view the city at the same time. We made two laps around the city for a total of 5 miles.
Wehraded back to the farm house for our final evening in Tuscany. We will be taking the train to Milan tomorrow morning for the last two days of our trip. We will miss this area but are excited to get to our next destination.
We will post the photos from Pisa and Lucca once we get to Milan. We hope the Wednesday morning will bring us news of an Orlando Magic victory in game 3.
Ciao!
Violet and Grace
After the visit to Pisa we took a train to Lucca. This is a old but small Italian city surrounded by a sixteenth century wall that encircles the entire city. The wall is a hundred feet wide and is built with stones and brick. Lucca has a bike path at the top of the wall. We rented some bikes and took a spin around the top of the wall. It was really pretty. The path is lined with trees so you get to ride in the shade and view the city at the same time. We made two laps around the city for a total of 5 miles.
Wehraded back to the farm house for our final evening in Tuscany. We will be taking the train to Milan tomorrow morning for the last two days of our trip. We will miss this area but are excited to get to our next destination.
We will post the photos from Pisa and Lucca once we get to Milan. We hope the Wednesday morning will bring us news of an Orlando Magic victory in game 3.
Ciao!
Violet and Grace
Monday, June 8, 2009
Siena for the Day
We woke up on Monday and took the train to Siena for the day. We hit Il Campo first. This is the city center with lots of history and the location for the famous Palio horse race. This is an annual bareback horse race that takes place in the center of the city each year. We had some lunch and then went shopping. We are having a great day.
Ciao!
Violet & Grace
Photos from Florence
These photos document our first few days in Florence. We are having so much fun visiting the city.
More Photos from Capri
We are little late in getting these posted but here are a few final photos from our time in Capri.
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Our First two days in Florence
We sure have packed in a lot of sites during our first two days in Florence. We arrived by train on Friday and immediately hit the town in style. We hit our favorite restaurant by the Duomo and Violet and Grace bought their Italia sweaters at a cart nearby. They successfully negotiated the purchase to 30 euros down from 40 euros!
After lunch Grace, Violet and Soldaddy climbed the steps of the Duomo dome with over 500 steep inclined steps to the top. We made it to the top safely with Soldaddy being the most out of breath.
After the climb of the Duomo we headed over to the Accademia to see Michelangelo's David. We had seen pictures of this sculpture before but seeing live and in person was absolutely beautiful and amazing. We also learned a lot about the life and art of Michelangelo on this tour. Violet was particularly interested in Michelangelo's unfinished work of Prisoners. Michelangelo never finished these sculptures and they have four of them on display At the Accademia.
Saturday was just as busy. We started with a three hour walking tour of Florence. Our guide walked us tbrought the heart of the city showing us pre-Renaissance and Renaissance buildings. We learned a lot about the history of Florence and how it started the Renaissance period. We even visited a few thirteenth century churches.
The afternoon included a tour of the Uffizi Gallery. We saw Botticellis Birth of Venus and also saw his Primavera. Violet thought that Venus looked a lot like Ashley, her cousin Gary's wife. We also saw a Michelangelo, a few DaVinci's, and a room full of Raphael's. That is a lot of art for one day! But we left the Uffizi knowing that we had seen some of the worlds greatest art in a single afternoon and we are very grateful for that.
We've got a lot of photos from the last few days but have no Internet connection in our Tuscan farmhouse. But we do have a rooster that wakes us up in the morning. Hope to post the photos soon.
That's all for now!
Ciao!
Violet and Grace
After lunch Grace, Violet and Soldaddy climbed the steps of the Duomo dome with over 500 steep inclined steps to the top. We made it to the top safely with Soldaddy being the most out of breath.
After the climb of the Duomo we headed over to the Accademia to see Michelangelo's David. We had seen pictures of this sculpture before but seeing live and in person was absolutely beautiful and amazing. We also learned a lot about the life and art of Michelangelo on this tour. Violet was particularly interested in Michelangelo's unfinished work of Prisoners. Michelangelo never finished these sculptures and they have four of them on display At the Accademia.
Saturday was just as busy. We started with a three hour walking tour of Florence. Our guide walked us tbrought the heart of the city showing us pre-Renaissance and Renaissance buildings. We learned a lot about the history of Florence and how it started the Renaissance period. We even visited a few thirteenth century churches.
The afternoon included a tour of the Uffizi Gallery. We saw Botticellis Birth of Venus and also saw his Primavera. Violet thought that Venus looked a lot like Ashley, her cousin Gary's wife. We also saw a Michelangelo, a few DaVinci's, and a room full of Raphael's. That is a lot of art for one day! But we left the Uffizi knowing that we had seen some of the worlds greatest art in a single afternoon and we are very grateful for that.
We've got a lot of photos from the last few days but have no Internet connection in our Tuscan farmhouse. But we do have a rooster that wakes us up in the morning. Hope to post the photos soon.
That's all for now!
Ciao!
Violet and Grace
Thursday, June 4, 2009
A Day in Capri
We spent most of the day in Capri. It's a small island just a 20 minute ferry ride from Sorrento. We hit the Blue Grotto first. This is a natural grotto on the northwestern end of the island. It is accessible at the base of one of the cliffs. It has a small narrow passage way that leads to large open area. It is only accessible by row boat. So we took a smaller boat ride to the grotto area and then climbed into a small rowboat and our Capri guide rowed us into the grotto and serenaded us with traditional italian arias. It was Violets's opinion that our guide was a much better rower than singer. Violet: "He should just stick to the rowing!". The cool part about the grotto is that sunlight comes in through the passage way and reflect on the water to create an almost fluorescent blue color throughout the entire grotto area. It was a very cool experience. The ride out to the grotto was just as exciting. We saw giant cliffs all the way around the side of the island.
Well we bid Sorrento farewell tomorrow morning and then it is off to Florence.
Ciao!
Violet & Grace
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