Duomo and dinner in Florence/Lucca bike tour

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Sera! Our last day in Florence was definitely a bitter sweet one. We were able to fit in the last few things we wanted but were so sad to leave. Florence definitely stole my heart and I plan on returning as many times as possible in the future. The day started out with the Duomo, a beautiful 13th century cathedral with a huge dome that you can hike to the top of if you are willing to brave the long lines, extremely small staircases and 463 steep steps. I am slightly claustrophobic and have a fear of heights, but the trek to the top of the dome was definitely worth it, even with a 2.5 hour line. The views are breathtaking and you can see the entire city and surrounding hills. I am happy to have been able to check the Duomo off my bucket list without having a panic attack in one of the windy staircases 😊 That evening we headed to the city center for a Florence by night tour and dinner. We drove around the moonlit city for about an hour while the driver explained the history of many numerous cites. We stopped at the Piazza Michelango, where a replica of the David stands in its original spot. This famous square overlooks the city and has great views of the Ponte Vechio (a famous bridge over the Arno river) and Duomo. After the tour we had a dinner in an old palace above the Ferragam Museo. It started with bruschetta, followed by gnocchi bolognese, pork with potatoes and tiramisu for dessert. The gnocchi was definitely my favorite from the meal and when we were done, a night out on the town capped off our perfect stay in Florence. This morning we woke up, significantly hung over, and faced the challenges of packing up all of our luggage (including a few more items than we left with) and figuring out the train system. Originally we wanted to make a 12:10 train, but when we arrived at 11:55, saw the lines and realized we had no idea what we were doing, that got pushed back a bit. We ended up paying an extra 3 euro to skip the lines and got tickets for the 1:10 train directly to Lucca. The tickets are obviously not in english, so they are a little complicated to understand. Luckily we have no problem sounding like lost tourists and ended up asking multiple people to point us in the right direction. Finally we made it to the right platform and boarded the train. About halfway through our train right we realized that we were supposed to get our ticket stamped or validated before we boarded. If you get caught doing this, its a 50 euro fine. Fortunately for us, there was no one checking tickets when we arrived in Lucca. The train station is directly outside the walls of Lucca, so the trip to our hostel was very short. As we entered Lucca through the main entrance I realized why so many people had recommended visiting this city... bellisima!! It is only about two miles wide and the original walls still surround the entire city. On top of the walls is a path where no cars are allowed, so it is used to walk, run, bike etc. Because the town is entirely surrounded by over 20 ft walls, there is literally no breeze in the city and at 6 pm when we did a bike ride along the path, we found all the tourists and locals had also made their way there to escape the heat. The bike ride around the city is absolutely gorgeous. It is without a doubt the best way to explore the city. With all of the shops, parks, bright buildings, cafes and friendly locals, Im finding that only one night in Lucca is not quite enough. The change of pace from Florence to Lucca has been very refreshing and I know when the time comes to head to Bologna tomorrow, I won't want to leave. Until then I am going to enjoy this amazing town as much as possible. Ciao!

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Comments

[Debbie Cifelli]

What are you doing???
I can't believe you're eating that ;)