Having only allotted ourselves one evening and a few hours during the day to see Florence, we missed out on quite a bit. Of course, we were able to walk around and see some of the more famous sites such as The Duomo at the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore (the dome for which Brunelleschi became famous), Ghiberti’s “Gates of Paradise”, Campanile (the bell tower next to The Duomo), and several well-known squares in the city. Florence had a different feel than Rome…it was almost as if one could feel the old money of the Medici family while walking around in the city.
We also took time to enjoy a Leonardo da Vinci exhibit that showcased some 40 or so of his inventions. Models were built of each invention and about half of these were interactive so we were actually able to put them to use and see how they worked. Many different types of pulleys for dragging or hoisting weight were there, several different military concepts (such as the tank and various weaponry) were on display, an early version of the car, a parachute, a rotisserie cooker, bicycle, ball bearings, and of course, the flying machine were all on display. Tribute was also paid to his study of human anatomy, though not much attention was paid to his work as an artist.
Anyway, after getting a taste of Florence, we caught the train to Pisa. By all accounts, there isn’t much to see or do in Pisa other than the Campo dei Miracoli, a walled part of the city that contains the Leaning Tower, the Bapistry of St. John (the cathedral), the Camposanto, and the old city wall. As far as “touristy” things go, I would tend to agree (although Pisa would be a nice, quiet little town to spend a few days in if one wanted to get away from the bigger cities). We ate dinner, took the obligatory “push down the Tower” picture, and after learning it cost EU15 just to go up in the Tower, made our way back to the train station. EU15 – outrageous! However, I suppose I did right by the Business School by putting forth a suggestion as to why it made sense for their cost structure to be shaped in such a way. After a few hours in Pisa, we were on our way.
Our next destination was Cinque Terre, a string of five towns built into cliffsides along the Italian Riviera. The goal was to get there before dark and find a place to sleep on the beach. We got off the train at the first town, Riomaggiore, but to our disappointment, were unable to locate a beach. However, we did find a walkpath and followed it along the edge of a cliff until it stopped. This was to be the “campsite”. It was very dark so we couldn’t look out over the Mediterranean Sea but setting up campsite (which was comprised of a few sheets) while drinking a bottle of wine, looking into a clear, star-filled sky, and listening to the waves crash against the rocks below was an amazing experience that I wouldn’t trade for the world.
