Italy (Day 4) – Florence & Pisa

Our journey to Florence begins right after breakfast at Prato. It’s just another day to visit the churches, squares and some other attractions. On reaching Florence and the bus parked at the parking lot, my wife and I took a short walk to Basilica of Santa Croce. What so interesting in Basilica of Santa Croce? According to the tour guide, it’s the burial place of Michelangelo and Galileo; and also the largest Franciscan church in the world.


Statue just outside the Basilica, inscripted A Dante Alighieri L’Italia on the base. He was a poet of the Middle Ages. This stature is placed high on a base surrounded by lions, and he is clutching his robes around his body and has an eagle at his feet.


Opposite the Basilica, there were 4 stories buildings and shops selling leather goods and souvenirs. To my surprise, I saw few Chinese ladies from China or even gypsies selling cashmere or begging for donation here. We were told that these gypsies might spur black magic at us if we stared at their eyes. It’s just an urban legend. We just ignored them and proceed with our tour.


During the brisk walk through the narrow lane and road, we saw this mini car which is a common sight in Italy due to limited parking space.



Then we came into a magnificent Duomo, Santa Maria del Fiore which is the cathedral church of Florence. The construction started in 1296 and completed in 1469.




Main huge bronze door in front of the cathedral


Statues next to the bronze door at each side



Largest brick dome ever constructed


Giotto’s Campanile or bell tower of the cathedral


The astonishing golden Gate to Paradise, east door facing the Duomo


St. Giovanni Baptistery opposite the Duomo


The queue to visit the cathedral interior was freaking long and we did not waste our time queuing, but I was told the interior look amazing and impressive till your jaw started to drop. It’s always best to tour on your own rather than followed a guided tour due to limited time.

From here, we walked to Piazza della Repubblica or Republic Square which is a city square in Florence. The square consists of many cafes, a merry-go-round and the Column of Abundance on the left. It’s a place for street artists and exhibitions.



A stone throw away; there were many stalls under this building, mainly selling souvenirs, leather goods and snacks. I bought few fridge magnets only as the other leather goods were quite expensive for an unknown brand, maybe I’m not branded savvy.




I guessed this is an auspicious wild boar made of bronze to bring brisk business to the shops owner here.


The famous gelato ice-cream for Euro 2.50


The highlight of the visit to Florence is the famous Ponte Vecchio (means old bridge) built in 1345, was Florence's first bridge across the Arno River and is the only surviving bridge from Florence's medieval days (others were destroyed in World War II).


View across the bridge where there’s still shops selling mainly jewelries, art and souvenir.


Overlooking Arno River from Ponte Vecchio


Along the Ponte Vecchio, there is a statue of Benvenuto Cellini.


Previously there were many padlocks locked to the railing around this statue and threw the key into the river, the couples will become eternally bonded just like the one in Seoul N Tower. Since the enforcement to give penalty of Euro 50 to those caught locking the railing, the railing seems to be free of padlock. Its okay, a photo of me and my wife will do the same :-)


The river also used as a water recreation activity like kayaking and people chilling on the grass next to the river.



Then we walked through the small lane passing by an under renovation library.


Inside the building, there were few statues of Galileo, Michelangelo Bounarroti and Leonardo da Vinci standing proudly inside the column




A street artist at work


Behind the library is Piazza della Signoria. It’s an L-shaped square in front of the Palazzo Vecchio building. It’s the famous waiting place for the local and also tourists. In front of the Palazzo Vecchio building is the Fountain of Neptune.


Statue at the entrance to the Palazzo Vecchio building


First courtyard of Palazzo Vecchio building


Courtyard with Putto with Dolphin on the right hand side.


The famous statue of Michelangelo


Another statue of Hercules and Cacus


Open-air museum with various statues


The Rape of the Sabine Women statue inside the open-air museum


The equestrian statue of Cosimo Medici


Photo of my wife with the two smartly dressed police officers


As we wandering around, we entered into one of the pizza shops and tasted the origin Italian pizza. There were around 20-30 varieties of pizza displayed at the counter. Spoilt by the choices, we simply ordered two slices of different flavours pizza before the cashier heated the pizza by putting into the oven. Each slice cost Euro 3. Darrell and Joey were also part of the tour. Sorry guys and girls viewer, both of them are married couple.



It’s about lunch time and I still have room for it though had a small bite of pizza. We headed to Antico Ritrovo restaurant, located up on the hill near the magnificent Piazzale Michelangelo.

The interior of the restaurant is nicely decorated with arts displayed on the wall.


Fresh fish courses with vegetables on the side.


Without wasting too much time in the restaurant, we quickly headed to Piazza Michelangelo. It’s a famous square with magnificent panoramic view of Florence. The square here can be accessed by any vehicles or you can take a stroll by walking up the stairs.



View of Ponte Vecchio


View of Duomo, Santa Maria del Fiore


View of Ponte Vecchio (left) and Duomo (right)


After we had a breathtaking view of one of the most beautiful city in the world, we onboard the bus for a merely 2 hours ride to one of the famous icon in Italy, the Leaning Tower of Pisa which is a bell tower of the cathedral of Pisa. It started construction in 1173 and completed in 1370. The tower started to lean in the early stage of the construction due to the poor foundation on the soil. We need to take a shutter bus to this place, probably there’s limited parking place for buses.

The Baptistery on the left


Duomo and the Leaning Tower of Pisa



Closer look how tilt the tower is and the entrance door to the bell tower. Many efforts have been put in by the government to prevent the tower from toppling.


Outside the entrance of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, waiting for the next shutter bus to arrive, we saw many African selling souvenirs. I have no idea why so many of them here.


Once the shutter bus leaded us back to our tour bus, we left to Rome in a miserable 6 hours bus ride due to heavy traffic and highway speed limit. We reached Rome almost 8pm, quickly had our dinner at the Cristoforo Colombo hotel, back to our room settled down and jumped on the bed for a good night rest.