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Wednesday
30th. May 2012 - Florence
It was cloudy when we woke up but by midday the sun had broken through.
We bought breakfast at a little shop next door to the hotel and then
made our way to the Piazza Duomo and The Basilica di Santa Maria del
Fiore (Basilica of Saint Mary of the Flower). Construction begun in 1296
in the Gothic style to the design of Arnolfo di Cambio and completed
structurally in 1436 with the dome engineered by Filippo Brunelleschi.
The exterior of the basilica is faced with polychrome marble panels in
various shades of green and pink bordered by white. We took photos of
the facade and the Baptistry next door. We then followed one of our
audio guides from the Duomo down to Ponte Vecchio. We took plenty of
photos along the way. We saw statues Including the Rape of the Sabine
Women and the copy of David in the Piazza della Signoria. At 11:30am we
joined a guided tour of the Galleria dell' Accademia. We saw the statue
of David. Taking photos was not allowed but somehow I managed to get one
or two without anyone noticing.
We had lunch at about 1:30 and returned to the Hotel Ester. At 4;30pm we
had a guided tour of the Uffizi Galleries. It was quite tiring and we
were given a full history of the styles of art from Byzantine through to
Michelangelo and Da Vinci. We then all met at 6:30pm and went to
the local supermarket to buy food for a picnic. David then led us to a
local bus which dropped us off at Piazzale Michelangiolo. We sat on the
warm stone steps overlooking the city and watching the sun set and
listened to a busker singing some of her local songs. We walked down the
hill to the hotel. At about 10:30pm we went back out into the town and
took some more night photos. We went to bed at about midnight with very
sore feet, but slept well.
Thursday
31st. May 2012 (Florence - Lucca)
We woke, had breakfast in the cafe next door and checked out of the
hotel. We were able to leave our luggage in the hotel until our train
left for Lucca at 3:15pm. We walked back down to the Ponte Vecchio, took
some more photos. We looked in awe at all the expensive jewelry in the
shops on the bridge. We bought a small watercolour painting
(€10.00)
of the Tuscan landscape from an artist just outside the Uffizi Gallery. We then walked to the Piazza Santa Croce and paid
6.00 each to look through the Basilica of Santa Croce. The interior is
quite austere, but the building is huge and very tall. It is also the
burial place of Michelangelo, Galileo, Rossini and many other notable
Italians. After a good look around, we had some lunch and an ice cream
and made our way back to the hotel, picked up our luggage and caught the
train to Lucca.
We arrived in Lucca at about
5:00pm. Here the group has been divided into three and we share three
apartments between us in different corners of the walled town. We are
sharing an apartment with David, the leader/guide. Our apartment has a
roof top balcony with a wonderful view over the nearby terracotta roof
tops and a tower with trees growing on the top of it. We share a
bathroom/toilet with David but there is another toilet off the kitchen
area that he uses, meaning that we share the shower only. The room is
spacious with marble tiled floors and two windows with wooden shutters
that open. There is no air conditioning, but there is a heater and two
fans in the room. The washing machine was a bit of a mystery and a
challenge.
Our apartment, in the photo is the pale yellow one with the car
parked in front of it.
We all met up for dinner at one of the local restaurants and
afterwards we sat out in the open in the Piazza Anfiteatros,
which is a circular set of shops built on the site of an old
amphitheatre and drank a few bottles of the local red wine. |
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Friday
1st. June 2012 - Lucca
We went down to the local supermarket first thing and bought some fruit
juice and rolls for breakfast. At 10:15am we met up with Davide at the
local bicycle hire shop. We hired bicycles and our journey first took us
around the perimeter of the city wall and then after crossing over a few
streets we cycled beside a river, down a lineal park and back again. The
total distance of the bike ride was about 26kms, and thankfully there
were no proper hills to negotiate. After the ride, we bought some lunch
and had it at the apartment.
At 7:00pm we attended a one hour recital of Puccini in an old church in
the Piazza San Martino. After the concert we returned to our apartment
where Davide had prepared and local rabbit dish for the whole group.
Saturday
2nd. June 2012 - (Lucca - Pisa)
Today was overcast and in the morning we wandered around Lucca looking
at the markets.
The rest of the group did an Italian cooking class
in our unit David had assured us that there would be plenty of food from
the cooking class and we were welcome to re join the group for lunch.
However, as the nine of us sat down on the balcony with nine
plates, one of the group from Sydney who was serving the meal commented
that there were too many plates and she had over served. She handed a
plate to each member of the cooking class but ignored us and said that
one of the plates was for Zara who had run the class. So we sat and
watched while they ate, until we decided to leave them. Our guided was
oblivious to our plight. However there was ill feeling.
We were told the day before that we would be going to Pisa at 2:10pm
sharp. However at 3:00pm the group was still sitting around talking to
the guide. I mentioned my dissatisfaction with the lunch situation and
the lateness of the departure to Pisa. We we on the road down to the
station by 3:15pm. We looked around the cathedral and Bapistry at Pisa
and took photos of the leaning tower.
At about 6:00pm we caught the train again for Viareggio, where one of
David's friends was playing in a band. This was his indulgence that we
were asked to join in with. As the band wasn't playing until at least
8:30, David suggested that we join him with a bottle of wine for a drink
on the beach. We did but immediately the group from Sydney left and
presumably caught the train back to Lucca. The beach was very commercial
with chairs and umbrellas as far as the eye could see, and signs saying
that swimming was prohibited unless we paid. It was almost deserted and
we sat down anyway and enjoyed the wine.
Only two of the band of six were playing. They put on an entertaining
performance, but were far from outstanding. We left the concert at 11:30pm
with Kate and arrived back at Lucca at about 12:15am. Taxi cost was 70
euros. David and two of the girls (including one who had joined us from
a previous tour) stayed on. So we were left to find our own way home
unescorted. Perhaps this is how Intrepid run their tours.
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