Pisa was fun. Three of us (Julia, Alek [pronounced Alex], and I) bought train tickets in English using the automated ticket machine, then headed to Pisa. No one ever checked the ticket. Rode the bus to the Plaza of Miracles (Piazza dei Miracoli), and no one ever checked the ticket. Bought a ticket for the cathedral, baptistry, cemetery, and the two museums, which were diligently punched. Stared at leaning tower, took obligatory tourist picture (might get my hands on that later; by then my battery had died). Rode bus back to train station; no one ever checked the ticket.

We checked the departure times to S.M.N. Firenze (Santa Maria Novella, Florence) and found there were plenty, so we set out away from the station to find a reasonably priced dinner, after our overpriced lunch. About six or seven blocks later, after a couple of false starts, we found a corner grocer-type-place that had some food. Of course the owner spoke absolutely no English, and our Italian is rudimentary at best. Alek tried to buy chicken wings, which involved flapping his arms, which failed. We ended up with two roasted chickens on the counter. After a quick conference, we got the shopkeeper to put one of them back, and he offered to quarter it, which we graciously accepted. So for €6 total, the three of us each had a good bit of roast chicken. We got back to the station at five of seven, bought a ticket at the automated machine for the 7:01 train, and headed back to S.M.N. Firenze. We got stopped for 15 or 20 minutes along the way due to some sort of electrical or scheduling problem, but eventually made it back.

No one ever checked our ticket.

The next day, we set off for Rome. Due to a suggestion from trip leader Dan, the bus went to Rome by way of San Gimignano, a neat little Tuscan wine town, which while touristy, offers amazing views ofthe surrounding countryside, and has intact city walls and famous towers. Didn’t climb any of the towers, but it was a neat place. Some people went to the supermarket that was by the bus checkpoint[1], and found six packs of 2L water for under €1.50. I’ve just been drinking tap water, which has been fine, but for people without water bottles, the 2L packs were quite a steal.

So we visited the Vatican today. Absolutely amazing place. Other than some difficulties with the tour guides–we were supposed to have two, and split into groups, but only one showed–we had no real problems. The Vatican museums were cool, but we didn’t really get to spend enough time in them. The tour led into the Sistine Chapel, which other than the disrespectful crowd (asked to be silent and not to take photographs), was an absolutely amazing experience. Honestly, I was not as impressed by the ceiling as by the Last Judgement (also by Michelangelo) on the wall behind the altar, but the whole place is amazing.

After lunch, we went into St. Peter’s Basilica. You could easily spend four or five hours there. Amazing architecture, amazing sculpture, amazing everything. It’s just a wonderful space. I stopped for a few minutes in the space reserved for prayer, which I’m glad they had, and was something missing in the Florentine churches.

Walked outside the Basilica and climbed the cupola. Great view of Rome. Not quite as cool as the Duomo at S.M. del Fiore in Florence, until you come back down. On the roof of St. Peter’s is a small area with its own souveneir shop and post office drop. So several people are getting Vatican postcards from the roof of St. Peter’s.

I had had pizza for lunch, and we ended up at a pizzeria for dinner, so I got some fried breaded balls of unknown composition instead. It turned out that they were rice (sort of a risotto), one with tomato sauce and a bit of hot, molten mozzarella inside, and the other with peas and a cool, solid pice of mozzarella inside.

As I’m sure you’ve figured out, I’m loving this whole experience.

[1] Buses in these cities can’t actually stay in town, and in fact are charged even to enter. Rome seems to be an exception, but in Florence and San Gimignano, the busses must stop outside the city at a checkpoint.

Been very busy the past few days, obviously, but Florence is a neat town. We leave tomorrow for Rome, and we’ve pretty much run out of things to do in Florence, so a few of us are taking the train to Pisa for the afternoon to see the tower.

A quick rundown of what I’ve been up to…Muse del Duomo, which has the original panels from the east doors of the baptistry, which are these amazing bronze reliefs. Really beautiful, and valuable enough that they’ve put copies on the actual baptistry. Went to the Accademia, saw Michelangelo’s David. It’s big. Really big. Went to the Boboli Gardens at Palazzo Pitti. Not as many flowers as I expected, but the view from the rose garden at the summit of some of the surrounding lands of Florence is very nice. Went to a symphony. Fun stuff, though it was hard to stay awake through the entire Brahms Symphony No. 1 (which was nearly an hour long!)

Stood in line for four hours to get into the Uffizi gallery. We couldn’t get reservations, and they didn’t choose to postpone the
lecture, so we couldn’t get into line until nearly 9:30. But the gallery has so much amazing art in it, it’s no surprise. Bottichelli’s “The Birth of Venus” is in there, among others. In fact, it’s the only gallery with three Leonardo da Vinci, just sitting there on the wall.

Went to the Palazzo Medici Riccardi, which is not the same as the Medici Chapel thta we were supposed to go to. Not our fault (trip leader Dan bought the wrong tickets), and after the Uffizi line debacle, the chapel was made optional anyways. Went to church at S.M. Nuevo, designed by someone famous I do not recall. In Italian. Luckily they had a sheet with most of the non-Liturgy of the Eucharist responses, which helped. And “Amen” is still “Amen.”

Saw the sun set at the Pizzale del Michelangelo, up on a hill southeast of the city. Amazing view.

Ate dinner at Il Latini, which is one of the best restaurants in Florence, at which I think we got a deal. Three of us ate for €60, though I had the most so I paid half. Absolutely amazing soup and roast beef. And the house wine was pretty good too. I got some strawberries after the meal, then they put a plate of almond biscotti on the table and give everyone a small glass of sweet (undrinkably so) wine on the table that you dip into. Wonderful stuff.

In a couple of minutes I’m leaving for the Bargello, which has Donatello’s David, then we’re heading to the station to get tickets to Pisa.

We arrived safely and very tired in Florence yesterday at about sunset local. We did a short walking tour today, in which I banged my head on an iron security window dealie that was sticking out into the sidewalk, drawing blood and everyone else’s concern. We also saw the Brancacci Chapel which has some cool frescoes. After the group tour ended, a bunch of us went up into the cupola of the Duomo, from which you can see all of Florence. Very cool.

The flight to London was very comfortable, though I didn’t get much sleep. BA does a good job. I had a window seat from London to Pisa, so I got to see the Alps as we passed over, which was also very cool.

Just to get you situated, it’s twenty to seven right now local time. I’ve got no idea what time it is back in Atlanta…my watch says noon. My body seems to be acclimating.

I’ve been taking lots of photos and hope to get some of them up on Sunday or Monday before we leave Florence. I’ve only found one wireless point where I can use my laptop, and it’s a bit of a hike, so I plan on doing it only once.

Everything’s going well. More photos are being posted by the day, so check it out.

I was going to post regular updates here, but it hit me that rather than write in my personal journal, write emails home, and write posts for the blog, it would be best to just copy the emails home with some edits as posts here. So that will be starting presently, until I run out of Wi-fi access. Will finish in Venice.