Florence
26.09.2010
Off to Florence today. Our drive was to take us via Pisa to see the leaning tower. It was very warm when we arrived, especially after the jumpers and thermals of Switzerland. Even though we were expecting the tower to be on a lean, when you see it close up it surprising just how much of a lean it is on. There have been many attempts to correct the lean, but the tower is still expected to fall sometime in the next 100 years. Our route then took us to a campground 45 mins from Firenze (Florence). It was the first of many super campsites that we would be staying in. They are so big that they have their own shopping centres and restaurants. For dinner tonight we got our first experience of real Italian pasta. The dishes were very simple but the taste was amazing. We weren’t prepared for the quantity of food though. The pasta dishes just kept coming and then at the end they brought out a massive pizza for each person. There was only one person out of 48 that even got close to eating it all.
Florence day 2
Today we took a walking tour through the streets of Florence. We were taken first to the council building with its walls painted with scenes of the Austrian landscape and fields of orange trees (which were considered a sign of wealth). Outside the building is a life size replica of the statue of David, where the original once stood. The statue of David is very lifelike, which reflects Michelangelo’s study of anatomy, while the other statues created by his apprentices have very exaggerated muscle structure, and features. There were also a few statues reflecting scenes from Greek mythology – Hercules killing a centaur and a huge bronze statue of Medusa losing her head. Florence must have been an amazing hub of science and art in its heyday. After our tour, we sought out some of the local gelato. Going with the Europeans love of Nutella, I decided on that flavour for my gelato. It was sweet and very smooth compared to our Australian ice cream. Perhaps because of the sugar rush, we got lost for the first time during the trip. The alleyways are very small and the buildings are high so it’s quite hard to get a bearing when walking around. The map we had was practically useless as well. Eventually though we got through the maze of alleyways and made it back just in time for the pickup.
