Advertisement
Published: June 23rd 2011
Edit Blog Post
Florence
On top of the Dome Day 7
Today was a full day in Florence. We arrived in the city from our hotel at about 10:00 and went directly to the cathedral. Most of the group climbed up the dome of the cathedral. it is quite a hike with well over 400 steps. The students did it slightly faster than the adults. Once at the top we were rewarded with a beautiful view on a very clear day of the entire city of Florence. After our first few days of overcast weather we have had nothing but sun the last few days. After our cathedral climb, we went into the Uffizi art gallery. It is one of the most visited places in Florence and one of the best art museums in the world. It was very crowded and even though we had a group appointment time, we waited about 20 minutes extra to get in. I made the kids look for a painting that they would steal and hang in their house, so after we were done they all were prepared to tell me their favorite painting. Kelcie, who had taken the art history class at Alta was a very informative teacher in the museum as well.
In fact because we had to hurry out a bit to go see the statue of David, she was a bit rushed which I felt bad about. Anyway, as I mentioned, after the Uffizi, we walked across town and went to see David. It is in a much smaller museum built just for him and he is impressive. some of the students gave themselves the challenge of getting a picture without the security guard getting after them. I am not sure if they were completely successful. After David it was around 3:00 and we had the rest of the day to explore the city. Several groups went different ways and all found something fun to do and see. Overall it was a fantastic day and I feel we now know Florence pretty well.
Day 8
Today we got to sleep in a bit before we headed to Pisa. After a nice slow paced morning, we drove over to Pisa. We arrived around 10:45 or so and walked from the big parking lot over to the "field of Miracles" where the leaning tower complex is. The complex consists of the tower, the large cathedral, and the baptistery. We had tickets
Florence
The Cathedral from the top to go in everything so we started with the cathedral. It is one of my favorite cathedral interiors. It has a very impressive ceiling, colorful marble stripes, and a several nice mosaics. After we walked across to the baptistery. It is known for its amazing acoustics and were able to hear the acoustic demonstration by the guard which was cool. We then walked over to the leaning tower for our appointment. Climbing the tower was way cool and something I think everyone will always remember. From the moment you step on the tower your sense of equilibrium is thrown off. Climbing the tower is strange because on one side you are walking up stairs but it seems flat, Then you round the corner and all of a sudden the stairs that seemed so easy are like a ladder and every step seem twice as hard. You circle your way up to top and after several times thinking you are done, you finally emerge at the very top of the tower. We really enjoyed our time at the top before the guard told us our time was up and we had to head down. After a lunch break we boarded the
bus and headed to the coast. We arrived at Cavi where our hotel is around 4:00. We are across the street from the beach so we all quickly changed and headed to the water. The beach is not really a sandy beach, but is mostly pebbles so it was not easy on the feet, but it was very fun to be in the water and mess around. The boys and myself had a rock skipping contest, while most of the girls searched the beach for rocks and sea glass. it was a very nice and much needed break from our non stop action. After dinner we went back to the beach to watch the sunset. Next up, the Cinque Terre, of the places I am looking forward to the most. Till then...
Advertisement
Tot: 0.266s; Tpl: 0.015s; cc: 6; qc: 45; dbt: 0.0508s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb