Florence from the Tippy-Top!

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The first item on our "Stuff To Do Before We Leave This Great City" list was to go to the top of the Campanile next to the Duomo and check out the views of the city. When we woke up this morning the weather was glorious so we packed up and headed out. We are a pretty quick walk to the Duomo - quick by Florence standards, NOT San Diego standards. 😊 There are 414 steps to the top - thankfully all stone (no open grating). It still took a while because although I can walk miles on flat land at this point after weeks of training, going up stairs is another story altogether. There are 2 levels to the Campanile, one that is enclosed in stone arches with HUGE windows overlooking all of Florence and the Duomo and the upper layer which is covered by thin wire mesh with completely unobstructed 360 degree views! It was such a beautiful day and the views were amazing and Gus took some really incredible pictures from the top level.

After all this up and down the stairs we were hungry and where else would we eat but Pugi Pizza? We caught a quick bus (we were kind of walked out) to Piazza San Marco and noshed on some of that incredible focaccia pizza. We had originally planned to go to the church at San Lorenzo, but time was getting tight for us as we had to catch our train to Pisa and our flight to Paris! Instead we took our favorite C bus and got off at a random stop and wandered around for a while. We found a local market and grazed happily on big, fat blackberries and local Tuscan apples. Gus was craving a cappuccino, so we popped into the nearest cafe for coffee and dolci (sweet pastries). And we did it all in Italian! Yay for us!

Now it was time to get back to the apartment and gather our luggage and head to Pisa. We caught our train - just barely - and we were off to Paris! We flew on RyanAir, which is kind of the Southwest Airlines equivalent over here. They offer some crazy deals. (Our flights to Paris cost 1 cent each!) A ha! But after boarding the plane we found out why the flights are SO cheap...it is like being surrounded by spam email for the duration of your flight. The first tip off is the fact that on the overhead bins there are banner ads - like on the sides of buses and in metro stations. Ah...so that is how they make their money. And then throughout the flight the flight attendants (merch pimps) are selling all sorts of stuff. All food and beverage items must be purchased. There is no such thing as gratis on these flights - no siree! Then the announce that they are selling scratch-and-win tickets, then they're sell phone cards and lastly they are offering all sorts of gadgets and fragrances. It was REAL annoying. I was relieved that our flight was only 90 minutes because I was starting to wonder what else they may start selling. Kidneys, anyone? We've got fresh ones that are ready for transplant! It was nuts.

Anyway, we arrived in Paris...no actually, we arrived in Beauvais, which is like 80 kilometers from Paris! The SECOND reason it is so cheap to fly RyanAir. This reminded me that from now on I will check where all airports are located in relation to our final destination. No big deal though because we booked a shuttle with, quite possibly, the worst driver in all of France. I won't get into details; let's just say that I had a small migraine when we got on the plane and after the driving around for nearly 2 hours I threw up when we got to the hotel. Welcome to Paris! Thankfully I was cured by the morning and ready for our first day of exploring the "City of Lights."

Bonsoir!

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