Florence, Pisa and Lucca , day 1 to 3
Once again I am traveling with customers. (Zum deutschen Blog) On Sunday we fly from Hamburg via Frankfurt to Bologna. In Frankfurt we have to hurry, since we have to go from Terminal A to B.
This blog post contains unpaid advertisement and affiliate links.
We manage to get there on time, unfortunately our luggage doesn`t, as we notice in Bologna. It also rains cats and dogs. What a welcome to Tuscany.
Anyway we move into our rooms at the Hotel Croce di Malta and hope that the suitcases will come later. Unfortunately, they are still not there the next morning. So our group is slightly upset while going by train to Florence.
Florence
Antonio our tour guide, leads us to the Basilica de San Lorenzo, where we receive a Florentine tour guide. We visit the church with its beautiful round dome. The huge paintings and wall paintings are worth the visit.
We walk to the Piazza del Duomo with the Cathedral Santa Maria del Fiore. What a magnificent building! I am really overwhelmed, it´s just a pity that the time is too short and the queue at the entrance is too long, so we can´t get inside.
We walk slowly and admire beautiful houses until we arrive at the Piazza della Signoria. The Palazzo Vecchio with its almost 100 m high tower dominates the square and its famous monuments, among others the equestrian statue by Giambologna, commissioned by Cosimo I de Medici.
The famous Michelangelo’s David (a copy) is to be seen at the Piazza, as well as the Neptune Fountain, which was created by sculptor Bartolomeo Ammannati. Unfortunately that is being restored and not visible at the moment.
We spend a little downpour under the roof of the loggia of the Lanzi, an open hall, where, inter alia, the famous sculpture “robbery of the Sabine women” can be seen.
Unfortunately, somebody steals the purse out of the backpack of one of my fellow travelers. Antonio has to go to the police with her and the rest of us continues the tour along the Uffizi Gallery to the beautiful Ponte Vecchio.
The famous bridge with the houses on it, is home to many small jewelers shops. As thousands of tourists block the bridge, we continue our stroll towards the Cathedral Square.
Leisure time until the departure of the train is announced, so we all briefly eat and drink something and then we do some shopping, as from our suitcases, we still have not heard anything.
Too bad, I would have liked to look at Florence a bit longer, but some new things are not too bad at all.
Pisa
Day three also begins without a suitcase. The morning mood in the train to Pisa is still a bit depressed. We have to change in Lucca, which we will visit in the afternoon.
We get off at Pisa San Rossore, which is the nearest stop and only about a 10 min walk from the Piazza del Duomo. Everyone will surely guess at once, that there the landmark of Pisa, the leaning bell tower of the cathedral is situated.
A lot of fenced green is to be seen and is in stark contrast to the bright cathedral, the baptistery and of course the “Leaning Tower”.
Countless other tourists are here with us, unfortunately also many pick pockets. Antonio urgently warns us to look out for them and also shows us one or the other, with many young women following this “trade”.
We do not climb onto the tower, but we visit the church from inside. Gorgeous!
Lucca
The afternoon begins with a delicious ice cream and a cappuccino. After all we are in Italy! Then I get the redeeming call from the hotel. All the suitcases have arrived! Immediately, not only the sun shines but the whole group is smiling!
So the city tour starts very relaxed. In the Middle Ages, Lucca was a very rich city with large palaces, but they did not always look impressive from the outside. If you were rich, you didn`t have to show it. Mostly trading precious silk fabrics made people rich here.
One of the residential towers is still standing and has not been taken down long ago because of security reasons. There are trees growing on it today and one can climb up the stairs. Take a look at some pictures of this beautiful city! In my next blog about Tuscany, I´ll write about Volterra and San Gimignano.
Let yourself be inspired on my Instagram or Facebook or Pinterest account!
Be First to Comment