Florence, Italy

From Deiva Marina we travelled south by train to Florence with a quick stop in the town of Pisa. Famous for it's leaning tower and not much else, this one-trick-pony town provides not much more than one hour of interest to the average tourist. Having been there before, this was one hour too long for me, but we stayed long enough for Sam and Cade to get token photos holding up the tower and continued on our way.

Our first day in Florence entailed wandering the streets of the old town to see the famous Cathedral and Duomo, browsing the nearby markets and walking the banks of the river. One of the more interesting sights of the day was the line to see Michaelangelos David which stretched half way around the Piazza. Needless to say we gave it a miss - 3-hour line in Florences midday heat isn't fun.

In a search for a more typical Tuscan experience, our second day consisted of a two part day trip to the nearby countryside.

First stop was the town of Sienna, probably more famous for the opening scene of James Bond's 'Quantum of Solace' in the Plaza de Campo. Daniel Craig was nowhere to be seen, but they were setting up for the annual horse race the following week.

Next we ventured 1.5 hours north to the small town of San Gimignano - a walled Tuscan city with amazing views of the adjacent countryside. It took a while but our final roll of the dice yielded the Tuscan experience we were looking for. In true Italian style we finished the day with lasagne on the town steps.