Italy Days Seven and Eight: Pisa and Florence

During our next two days, we went to Florence for a day and then Pisa for the next morning with the option of going back to Florence in the afternoon. Our first time in Florence included a walking tour and a tour in the Uffizi Gallery. 

One of my favorite cathedrals we saw: the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore 

 As the birthplace of the Renaissance, Florence had some amazing things to see in terms of art. At the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore is Brunelleschi's Dome (the largest dome in the world until modern times), and at its baptistry is Ghiberti's Doors of Paradise. At the Uffizi Gallery  we saw Botticelli's Birth of Venus and Primavera. I loved seeing the originals, especially Primavera - when you see it up close you can notice all the little details that can't be seen otherwise, such as how perfectly detailed even the grass is. 


The next day we went to Pisa for the morning. I can't really say what I think of Pisa as a city because we weren't there for more than a couple of hours, and we were only in the section that everyone goes to when in Pisa - the Leaning Tower. We saw the basilica there and the tower and a row of booths selling more Leaning Tower of Pisa souvenirs than one could ever want. 

The typical photo pose that all the tourists do
 - I was going to be cooler than that, but then I decided that since I was there, I might as well indulge in the silliness. 

In the early afternoon we were able to go back to Florence (by train, our means of transportation both of these days). Some people went back for an afternoon of relaxing at the hotel, which did sound very tempting since I was tired. I had really been looking forward to Florence, however, and the day before I felt that I really hadn't been able to do all that I had hoped. Mostly I wanted to do some shopping and buy presents for people. While there are many expensive stores in Florence, there are also markets that sell things more cheaply. In the markets you can also haggle, which was an interesting experience. My friend Devin and I tried our luck at haggling (well, mostly Devin - I, being the shy one, mostly just watched although one of the guys apparently liked me enough to give us free little bracelets). One of the men tried to sell me another pair of earrings after I had bought some, and he lowered the price down to half what he originally said. I just kept saying "no" though, not because I was trying to haggle but just because I really wasn't interested! I also found a few less expensive stores in which I bought shirts for my sister and me. Since I love shopping, I had a very fun afternoon, and I'm thankful to Devin for going shopping with me all around Florence even though he's a guy :)