| Palermo | Taormina | Sorrento | Venice | |
Florence, Pisa, Lucca and Sienna, September 15-17, 2004
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Most of the trip from Venice to Florence was pretty uninteresting (very flat plains with lots of fields), but as you get closer to Florence, you go through some very pretty mountains. The Bologna-Florence road was heavily traveled, and much of their income was providing travel comforts in "the early days". |
| We got to Florence (Firenze in modern Italian) at a reasonable hour (before lunch) and went immediately to the square of Holy Cross (Santa Croce). Here's the church of the same name (under restoration on the right). What impressed us the most was the very ornate design of the marble as it was laid out. Also, a number of well-known Florentines are buried inside. |
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The square was surrounded by shops (most of them on the side alleys).
Florence is known for it's leather goods and gold, which, while not cheap,
are of very high quality. We stopped first at a leather factory which
gave us a demonstration (and maps of the city, which I think was the real
purpose), then checked out the gold chains (but even with the discount and
refunded VAT tax they were not well priced by US standards). Unfortunately, I had some free time the next day, so I have a new leather jacket. Marnie may not go to a museum alone again. In this picture, the leather shop is on the left of the alley and the city bell tower is in the distance. Almost all Roman villages had a bell tower which was the primary means of notification. They had specific rings for fire, city assembly, invasion etc. |
| Probably the ultimate in ornate marble layout was this, the main cathedral in Florence. Note that not only is there a large cathedral (to understand how large, this picture is pieced together from several photos), but also a separate bell tower, and not shown, a very large baptistery right next to the Bell tower (thus hidden by the cathedral). |  |
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The inside of the Cathedral was also very well done (but then this was all
done with Medici money). The photo on the left shows the little chapel above. The back of the church features a solar clock - it tells how long it will be until the next sunset (thus the clock needs adjustment about once a week both in terms of time of sunrise, but also the length of the day). |
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We did get a tour of the city museum, which includes the original David by Michelangelo (the one downtown is a reproduction.) But, interestingly enough, this sculpture of the rape of the Sabines (found in the Square) is the original, the one in the museum is the reproduction. And it's located very close to the Church of Santa Croce (one block away if you know which way to walk). |
| The next morning we got up early and took the bus to Pisa. While
most of this area is mountains, Pisa is built in the flat lands at the mouth
of the river Aran. Actually, to be more correct, in the swamp at the
exit. So, the ground is a little soft. So now you can understand
why they couldn't keep their Bell Tower vertical. Normally, all you hear about is the tower (and yes, it is leaning a bit isn't it). But notice the large Basilica you see in front of it. |
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From the back of the Basilica, you can see that not only is there one more building than you normally hear about, but also a large Baptistery as well. These were constructed during the days of the Moslem invasion (which was mostly knowledge, but yes, they were converting people as well) and when constructed, Baptism was done by full immersion. There no longer is a swimming pool inside however. |
| After visiting Pisa, we stopped by the ancient city of Lucca (that's
pronounced Loooka, not Lukka). Back in the 1400s the evil people of
Florence invaded Lucca, and when they left, the local's said "no more".
So they built these beautiful walls (30' thick with dirt, not stone behind
them, so they would stand up to cannon balls), and filled this space with
water. It must have worked, because it never was invaded again. |
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This beautiful mansion is still a family home (but they rent it for the income most of the year). Bottom floor is for socializing, first floor (remember this is Europe, so the middle floor) is for family and the 2nd floor is for servants. Note the difference in ceiling heights. |
| Most of downtown Lucca is small narrow streets. This piazza is different, because at one time it was the Roman coliseum for the city! All the stone was recycled to make the church (2 blocks away), so in relatively modern time, these apartments and stores were built on the foundations and a nice city "square" (actually oval) came from it. |
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On the way back to Rome the next day, we stopped in Sienna. This town is really unique. Look at the city square below. It's all sloped down to what looks like a drain, but actually, it's the entrance to a cistern. The town itself is built on a set of hills. In the center bowl, they built up this square, and underneath is a gigantic water collection basin (you need a boat to get around in it).
| The main cathedral is lovely Italian Gothic. The funny part is that it was supposed to be much larger, but they ran out of money. So the walls you can see at the back were supposed to be for the main nave and this was just going to be the transcept. But, being innovative, they just made a smaller church. |
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The most impressive piece of the cathedral is the carved floors. The lines you see here are carved into the marble, then filled with coloring. These carvings are on the front step. We were told the entire nave is carved in such a fashion, but the line to get in was too long (and we didn't want to pay the 6 Euro apiece either). |
As we were leaving Sienna, we stopped on the city walls for a last look and I captured this panorama. Seems to me like this does a nice job of summarizing what we saw in the 2 weeks.
| Palermo | Taormina | Sorrento | Venice |
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