Day 11 - Neapolitan Riviera - Florence Area

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An early start this morning for the journey north to Florence. Vistas of undulating hills, rows of cypress trees, sun flower fields, terraced vineyards, olive groves and rural villages form the backdrop of the road through Tuscany.

Arriving in Florence, we stopped amongst the many crowds of tour companies, for an afternoon stop. We made our way to join our local tour guide in the town square, to see amongst many, (copy of the original) Michaelangelo's statue of King David.

As David is one of my favourite biblical characters, it was good to finally see this after much anticipation. The statue displaying a young man 19 years of age (In his birthday suit), armed with only a rock in hand, ready to pull his slingshot out, and kill off the mighty Golliath in one single shot. Although only a replica of the statue, the original was taken inside the museum, to preserve this due to the great floods of the 1800's within Florence. Within the town square, there were many other impressive statues from world class sculptures crafted in both marble and bronze with such diversity, character & expression, celebrating stories of triumph & victory, as well as mystical tales & fantasy.

Although quite a nice town, we were all quite hot & lethargic, ready for a nice gelati, however at ¬12 Euro for a Waffle cone, we opted for the Ice Granita's which were ¬3 Euros.. If you like your imitation Gucci, YSL or Prada bags, this is the place to come. Also plenty of imitation Rolex watches & Pashmina scalves. (Ladies, put in your orders now!!!)

Highlights of the day were as follows:

* The drive to Florence, through Tuscany.

* The emergency toilet stop at the roadside autogrill, as Rach was busting for a Pee.. Nothing like stopping the bus of 44 people for a PeePee (not a free one), although she was not the only one who took advantage of the emergency stop!!

* Our eldest tour member (89 Years) leaving his dentures at the Autogrill, where we stopped for lunch... Although he is 89, he is a well travelled man from the Gold Coast, and is celebrating his honeymoon with his wife of 4 months. Both their partners had passed away, and having been friends for many years, have found companionship in each other.
.* Only 1 day until we leave Italy for France, where hopefully we will get something other than pizza, pasta and gelati to eat.

* Finally we got a hotel room with a real shower. Nothing like having to hold the shower hose in the bathroom for each other whilst you wash your hair / body. Quite Romantic!!

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