Whirlwind Tour of Tuscany

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We had decided that we wanted to go see the leaning tower in Pisa and Lucca.. both are on the west side of Tuscany.  We took a very long but scenic route to Pisa. We passed by farms, tiny villages and fields and fields of dried sunflowers.  We could only imagine what they would have looked liked when they were in bloom.  After 3 hours we got to Pisa.. not what we expected, quite dirty. The tower was fun, we took all the typical cheesy pictures of us holding up the tower.  The best that Pisa has to offer was the market just by the tower where we all bought purses.

Then we went to Lucca. It is quite a large quaint town that has an entire wall still surrounding it. They made the top of the wall a beautiful walking/biking path.  We were lucky enough to get to it at dusk so we could see the sun setting on the buildings.  As in Montepulciano and Sienna, the place was full of tourists and shops.

The next day we went back to Sienna since Sucia had not seen it yet and we wanted to go to the weekly market.  Compared to Sunday, this day it was a zoo.  Tourists everywhere.  The market was overwhelming..stand after stand of clothes, toys and food.  We did our best to strike deals.. sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't.  The food stands were the most fun, we befriended this man selling cheese and meats and he let us try almost everything. I had no idea there were so many different types of Pecorino Cheeses.. I discovered I like the aged ones the most as they have the strongest flavor.

Our next stop was San Gimignano.  It is a small hilly town where 16 of the 60 towers are still standing.  Again shop after shop line the streets.. It either a shop of ceramics, wine or cheese.  As we were heading back to the car we followed the signs to the Roman Ruins and came across these huge bath houses with water still running in them.  As we thought we were heading back to our car we realized we were on private property and the owner informed us that they were where the Romans would come to clean their clothes.  We of course asked if we could see his house.. it was from the 15th century.. his family has lived there for generations.. pretty neat.  Up the steep hill to find our way back to car we found a path that went around the city walls. The views were amazing as it was a clear day and you could see vineyards and olives trees everywhere and it was quiet and peaceful as we were the only ones on the path.   On our way home we stopped in St. Lucia and came across the postcard view of San Gimignano with the sun hitting the towers. We got home and made another exquisite meal in our Villa from food we got in San Gimignano.

Our biggest day yet was Florence. We had reservations for the Galleria del Uffizi. We made it town in time (1.5 hour trip from our villa) but the next adventure was finding our way to the museum. This adorable elderly woman helped us, got on the bus with us.. one stop and we were told to get off..nothing like 2euros for 4 block trip.  We were so worried we would not make our next stop.. the Academia.. that we rushed thru the Galleria in an hour with out audio tour.  As museums go, it was not as grand as I had expected and the audio tour was very hard to follow. The highlight was seeing a couple Michelangelo and DaVinci paintings.

At the Academia.. as expected seeing Michelangelo's David was moving.  We found out that the piece of marble was rejected by 2 or 3 other sculptors who thought it had to many deformities.  His left arm was broked off during a riot in the 1600's.  Other than that its in pristine condtion.  The pictures we took of the David outside the Uffizi is a copy. The original stood there for years, but pollution was ruining it so it was moved to the Academia. David is supposedly the most perfect proportioned statue in the world. The details were terrific, you can see his stomach muscles, his veins in his arms, his pupils and his toenails.

For dinner we went with Sucia's friend Cornaldo to a places called  Persues..(.Link to Perseus Restaurant) (son of Zeus and who cut off the head of Medusa with a sickle).  In the pictures of Florence of the statues, he is the green statue with man holding a head.  This restaurant is known for its Fiorentine steak which is from Chianina cattle.  The minimum order is for two people as the piece of steak is huge. It is covered in salt, the outside was crunchy and the inside is served rare. If you ever go to Florence and you like steak, this is a must!!