Day 7 Wednesday Pisa and Florence, Italy
We got to the next stop before the crack of dawn.
Teresa had booked us a bus and walking tour through Pisa and Florence with MSC.
The guide lady warned everyone about pick pockets near Pisa, they'd had trouble in the past. Apparently groups of young girls will crowd around you, blocking your views of them with their umbrellas while others pick your pockets. We didn't have any trouble like that. but it did rain! It wasn't super cold, probably in the mid 50s the entire time. So before the tour, the cruise line gave everyone rain ponchos. Even though we'd brought some already, we did grab more just in case. I still have at least 1 unopened one besides the one I brought. The ride to Pisa was about 30 minutes and I got lots of blurry pics of decrepit and abandoned houses along the way.
The bus arrived and we walked about 3/4 miles to the Pisa gate. We all had ear buds and the tour guide was in our heads the entire way, giving us instructions and historical information on our walk. We needed to find a rest room, so Ruth Ann and I got ahead of everyone and rushed through some construction to get to the gate sooner and find a restroom. Success!
Everyone got pictures trying to hold the tower from falling over and we were no different! LOL! Some were better than others.
Apparently ALL the buildings in Pisa are actually leaning due to the shifting sand it was built on, but the tower has the most pronounced lean.
Lots of fun statues are all around the grounds
and this one really caught my eye. Weird!!! More on this when we get to Rome.
We got back to the gate on time and checked in with our tour guide so she'd know we'd made it back.
and my phone alarm suddenly went off! Whoops! I need to call Meri and wake her up! as is my habit.
She answered the phone VERY groggily and asked is everything was ok.
Yeah! Are you up?!
I am now!!
I chuckled because that's what she says most mornings.
Mom. It's 3:30am... Can I sleep a little longer?
WHOOPS!!! I'm so sorry!!!! So then I set my alarm for 1pm.
The tour guide was getting antsy because one couple hadn't reported back to her and we could all hear her grumbling on the ear buds. It was now 15 minutes past time and we were on a schedule!!
FINALLY the wife showed up but not the husband. The wife had his phone so she couldn't call him to hurry up. :\ So after waiting a little longer, the guide said that they were on their own to get back to the ship (taxi, uber, whatever) and wouldn't to able to go on to Florence with us and the rest of us started hiking back to the bus.
OOH the guide was not happy! and we heard the entire thing on our ear buds.
About half way back to the bus, she got a call from the bus driver so we heard her side of the conversation. "He's where?!" The husband had already walked back to the bus thinking he'd missed everyone and left his wife back at Pisa.
The bus driver put the husband on. I can still hear the guide's voice, "You need to call your wife and tell her to take a taxi to the bus!" "You don't know her number?! She has YOUR phone! Call YOUR number!... You don't KNOW YOUR own phone number?!"
The frustration in her voice was incredible! lol!
I think the guide had gotten the wife's number and gave it to them.
We finally got back to the bus and sat for a while. The husband was outside getting chewed out by the driver and tour guide. Suddenly a taxi pulled up with the wife and the couple climbed onto the bus not making eye contact with anyone. They were totally in the dog house. The ship will wait for NO MAN! So we had to stay on schedule.
We headed to Florence! Another hour or so on the bus. Beautiful mountains and settling fog.
We got off the bus with an incredible view of Florence, Italy.
The fog had settled in town also and was just lovely.
I may be having a puzzle made of some of these!
At the top of the hill, there was a bronze replica of the statue of David by Michelangelo placed there in 1873 to overlook the city.
I sent Meri the pic back and front to help wake her up as it was 1pm now.
She DID wake up and replied with the message, "Mom, why are you sending my booty and d**k pics?"
It's ART!!! and famous art at that!
The guide walked us down the hill past so much history!
Teresa was dying to go the Ponte Vecchio, the bridge below as there were shops all the way across but it just wouldn't work out for this trip.
And once down the hill, down the road and across the river, we got to the heart of Florence.
Everything looked so clean and glossy!
And check out the poky things on the top of the door! I don't know if that's to keep people from trying to pry it open or what!
We got to the Piazza Di Santa Croce square and were cut loose to explore for an hour. It was getting late and we were hungry!! and needed to find a restroom. and souvenirs.
I noticed a small restaurant that looked authentic enough so I suggested there.
The place was really great! It had a tub to put your umbrellas and rain jackets AND it had Zero Sugar Cola!! I kept the bottle.
We ordered lasagna! Thinking it would be quick because certainly they had a pan already made up in the back. NOPE. Or if they did, they took their time. It took 40 minutes for it to come to our table! Yikes! The tour guide is going to be angry with US!
OOH was it good!
Unbeknownst to us, we were within a few blocks of where Michelangelo was buried!
Our guide led us down some other winding streets and we ended up in front of the Palazzo Vecchio, where a bunch more statues of naked men were!
If you're in the mood for statues of naked men, THIS is your city!
We went on until we came to Piazza Della Repubblica where our guide gave us another hour on our own. We needed to use a restroom so Ruth Ann and I set off on our own in search of one.
To the right of the arch below, there was a book store and huge line of kids outside it waiting to get inside. Most of them holding albums and books for a signing. No CLUE who was inside but apparently the kids in Italy adored them! I tried to google it later and couldn't find out who it was.
To the left of the arch, there was an Apple store. She and I went in and no restrooms were obvious. In Italy, the general rule of thumb is, buy something and then you can use their facilities. Um, I have an android phone... Ruth Ann said, "quick, follow me!" and she took off to the big door in the back of the room like she knew where she was going. I did NOT follow her and pretended to look at some phones.
About 10 seconds after she went back, a very matter of fact sales woman took off through the same door in pursuit of Ruth Ann! So we were thrown out of an Apple store in Italy.
I guess you could consider this the next brush with the polizia, or rather a grumpy Apple employee.
We eventually thought to ask a street vendor where a public restroom was and we found a little corner restaurant with a seedy bathroom in their basement if you bought a couple pops. We were thirsty so okey dokey! And I couldn't figure out how to flush their toilet. whoops! Sorry!
After that, we met up with Teresa and Ken and then checked in with our guide again.
The square also had a carousel!
And then we walked to get back to our bus.
On the way, we saw this building and of course, I'm snapping pictures of anything held together with mortar or mud, so I got several pics as we walked by.
and then we walked.
and walked.
Aren't these door fantastic?!
and walked
and walked.
past some VERY bougie stores!
and walked
and walked
and walked
At one point, the guide said, "well, the bus was SUPPOSED to be here!" and then we walked some more. I was pretty confident she was lost.
But suddenly there the bus was across the street and we got back to it safely!
We got back to the ship exhausted and ate at the buffet again and relaxed.
End of day 7
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