Rainy Florence, Sunny Pisa

Florence:

We got on a 10:30am train from Bologna to Florence and we were greeted with some mildly wet weather once we arrived. We had looked at Google maps earlier in the morning for where our hostel was located in relation to the train station, and we were confident that we would find it.

After some mindless wandering in the rain, we happened upon the side alley where our hostel was. We checked in and got squared away, and wasted no time to head out and meander around Florence. We scoped out the location of the bar where we would be watching the Super Bowl, and returned there later in the evening (12:30am) for the game. The bar was called Lion's Fountain and it's basically a USA college bar. I was the only USC kid; there were about ten people from Cal. Hate. Unfortunately, I didn't bring my camera to the bar in fear that I would lose it when I lost my sobriety, and needless to say I am happy for my foresight. As the game dragged on, the Italian commentator got more and more tolerable.

The next day we did some typical tourism stuff. The hostel was in an absolutely amazing location and we could walk everywhere. First stop, Il Duomo:

I guess those little ant-like people at the bottom of the picture help put this fricking thing into scale--the Duomo is huge. As I found out, it's the fourth largest church in the world. And the outside is so ornately and painstakingly gilded with fine details and carvings and paintings and what not, it's a little surprising when you enter the less-than-extravagent interior (apart from the remarkable stained glass):

(Duomo from the inside, above)

Above is the enormous mural painting decoration around the dome. I just finished reading The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet but I still don't know if that is the chancel or the nave.

Across from the Duomo is the Baptistery, the oldest building in Florence (like sixth or seventh century). The gilded bronze doors (which I thought were gold) are by Lorenzo Ghiberti; Michelangelo described them as "so beautiful they are worthy to be the gates of Paradise." I'd agree with him.

Above is a quaint shot of Ponte Vecchio. Squint your eyes enough and you can see the rain drops splashing into the River Arno.

Palazza Vecchio within the Piazza Della Signoria. Yet another one of the countless "the picture does the building no justice." The whole piazza is pretty impressive. 

This was enroute to the Uffizi, by far and away the most spectacular and awe-inspiring museum in which I have ever stepped foot. It was remarkably difficult to take in all that it had to offer in one day--we must have been there for nearly five hours. Stupendous notables include Boticticelli's Birth of Venus, Michelangelo's only completed easel painting, the Doni Tondo, and just about every piece by Raphael, Titian, Rembrandt, and Caravaggio (Caravaggio quickly became my favorite after Rome). My apologies, but no photography is allowed inside.

I wish the weather had been more cooperative in Florence; I'd say that after Rome it is probably my favorite city in Italy. The rain inhibited my ability of taking a lot of pictures, and we decided one day to try and escape the rain: enter the 10 Euro train ride to Pisa.

Pisa:

Obviously we came to Pisa for the Duomo, which we heard was even more spectacular than that of Florence's... but then some tower got in the way:

There's no escaping the Leaning Tower in Pisa but its beauty still comes as a surprise. It's hard to question why it's one of the world's most familiar images.

It sits in chessboard formation alongside the Duomo and Baptistery on the manicured grass of the Campo Dei Miracoli. The buildings are a bright, stonewashed white in the sun and the whole area is actually remarkably gorgeous. I wish I could say the same about the rest of Pisa. The place kinda has a weird feeling to it by the time we left.

Above, the Duomo, with the tower set behind it to the right.

The Baptistery. A lot more interesting to actually look at and inspect as opposed to just looking at it and brushing it aside. I overheard a tour guide describe its bizarre mix of Gothic and Romanesque styling, which I guess was only interesting to me because of that damn book I've been reading (I whole-heartedly recommend anyone who hasn't read it to read it).

Anyway, we returned to Florence for the night, went over to a friend's place, had some wine and bar hopped for the night (the highlight being the Beatles cover band we saw for a little bit). It was our last night in Florence and honestly, I was sad to see it go. Next stop: Venizia.