Trip diary of my visit to Florence and Pisa. Contd.. from MilanDay 3 (26-10-06) - Firenze & Pisa: I had decided to go to Pisa (Home to Enrico Fermi, Galileo and Fibonacci among others)) this day to see the famous Leaning tower or 'Torre Pendente'. So I took a train from Firenze to Pisa, which takes only about an hour, and started walking towards the tower. There is nothing much to do in Pisa except the tower and the Basilica next to it and the other museums nearby in the same place Campo dei Miracoli(Field of Miracles). It costs quite a lot of money(15€) to go up to top of the tower, but whats the fun in not going to the top after being there. So I had to do it just for the heck of it. It was a very nice experience climbing the winding stairs which goes around
this leaning tower and when climb you can actually feel the lean on one side. It was a great view from the top of the tower. I bought a collective museum pass(8€ for 3 Museums) for the nearby museums and went to see the Camposanto - Monumental cemetry which had a collection of some really wonderful and artful sarcophagi of many unknown people and one of the Well Known Mathematician Leanardo Fibonanacci of the famed Fibonacci series, Battistero(baptistery), Musei Opera Del duomo which has some of the old models for the tower and the Basilica and the Battistero and some frescoes and sculptures by the same person(Pisano) who was involded in building the tower. Then I went inside and saw the Duomo, a cathedral. That done, I had to go and buy some mementos and postcards to send it back home from Pisa. Then it was time for a good Dinner with 'Chianti Classic', popular red wine from the vinyards of Tuscanny. After that I took the train back to Firenze and roamed the streets locating some of the Museums which I planed to visit the next day.Photos from Pisa
Day 4 (27-10-06) - Firenze: Crappy Breakfast at the Hostel which included a dry and hard bread with butter, a cold cappuchino and a glass of orange juice. I checked out of the hostel and went to Firenze Santa Maria Novella Station and left my luggage at the Left Luggage counter to be picked up before my evening train to Rome. I had got a 24 hour bus pass the previous night and so it made my job easier to jump between different interesting places by bus. My First destination was Gallgeria dell'Accademia, Obviously because I did not want to miss out on the world famous masterpiece by the Genius Michael Angelo, The 'David'. The Gallery also had some unfinished Sculptures by Michael Angelo. Unfortunately I dont have any pictures as they did not allow anyone to take photos inside. For its full collection, please refer the link above. Most of the visitors were swarming near the David Statue. It was so gigantic and beautiful as they all describe. It must have been 10 feet tall on a very high pedestal. It was so pristine white marble and just amazing. As history goes, it was displayed outside Palazzo Vecchio and then brought to the Gallery to preserve it. There is a copy of the same in Piazza vechio now and also a broonze copy in the Piazza Michael Angelo in the city. I also saw a copy of this same sculpture in Caesar Palace in the Vegas.
Day 4 (27-10-06) - Firenze: Crappy Breakfast at the Hostel which included a dry and hard bread with butter, a cold cappuchino and a glass of orange juice. I checked out of the hostel and went to Firenze Santa Maria Novella Station and left my luggage at the Left Luggage counter to be picked up before my evening train to Rome. I had got a 24 hour bus pass the previous night and so it made my job easier to jump between different interesting places by bus. My First destination was Gallgeria dell'Accademia, Obviously because I did not want to miss out on the world famous masterpiece by the Genius Michael Angelo, The 'David'. The Gallery also had some unfinished Sculptures by Michael Angelo. Unfortunately I dont have any pictures as they did not allow anyone to take photos inside. For its full collection, please refer the link above. Most of the visitors were swarming near the David Statue. It was so gigantic and beautiful as they all describe. It must have been 10 feet tall on a very high pedestal. It was so pristine white marble and just amazing. As history goes, it was displayed outside Palazzo Vecchio and then brought to the Gallery to preserve it. There is a copy of the same in Piazza vechio now and also a broonze copy in the Piazza Michael Angelo in the city. I also saw a copy of this same sculpture in Caesar Palace in the Vegas. 
After the gallery visit, I went to see the Duomo. It was undergoing some restoration on one side. But we were allowed to enter the Duomo and also the Museo dell'opera del duomo, which ofcourse costs an entry fee. This museum had some of Micheal Angelo's works including one version of Pieta which he intented to have it for his tomb and also some sculptures of Donatello. MA was unhappy with his pieta and broke one piece of it and was later restored by one of his students. Quite a history eh, of the genius renaissance artist. I was never very arty meaning so much into all the art stuff.. but after seeing some of the wonderful stuff in Florence it was very difficult not to spend time and appreciate the art. This trip, I realised, was turning out to be a Michael Angelo tour. Next stop was Basilica di San Lorenzo which was a very beautiful chapel which had couple of bronze pulpits designed by Donatello and apparently Donatello is buried in this same chapel. Then I went to see the Capelle Medicee (Medici Chapels). The Medici family was a big patron of the renaissance art and the likes of Donatello, Michael Angelo, Raphael all flourished during their period. This chapel has the tombs of the Medici family with some exquisite architecture and very beaituful and elaborate Sarcophagus. One of the room was Capella dei principi which is decorated nicely with marbles and precious stones and was the principal burial place of the Meidici rulers. The next room is Sargestia Nuova (New Sarcistry) which was fully designed by the Michael Angelo for the Medici's and has his beautiful alleghorical sculptures Night and Day, Dawn and Dusk and also the Madonna with the Child all of which are placed on top of the tomb of the Medici's, Lorenzo and Guiliano, along with their sculptures. Just in the presence of these masterpieces and this amazing rich rooms full of marbles and wonderful art and architecture made my day.
I decided to take it easy and just walked to Palazzo Vecchio and the crowded Piazza Della Signoria and its Fontana de Neptuno and Loggia Della Signoria in front of it which has Replicas of famous renaissance sculptures incl. David by Michel Angelo, Donatello's Judith and Holofernes, Perseus by Benvenuto Cellini, Rape of the Sabine Women and Hercules beating the Centaur Nessus, both by Giambologna, Menelaus supporting the body of Patroclus and many other Greek Myth related art work. Wonder How it must have been in its hey day during the Renaissance Period of 16th Century!! I didnt have enough time to go to Bargello Museum or Uffizi gallery, both of which are very renowned and I so wanted to see. Oh.. Well.. Maybe Next time...
Then I walked to the other side of River Arne along the famous Ponte Vecchio, Florence's oldest surviving bridge has Jewellery shops on both sides of the street. It is open only for Pedestrian walking. it connects the Old Medici Florenti Palazzo(Palace) Vecchio to the New Florentine Palazzo Pitti. I crossed the River Arne towards Palazzo Pitti and found that it was closed and I took the Bus to Piazza Michael Angelo to get a fantastic view of the whole Firenze city from there and also saw the Bronze copy of David by Michael Angelo which adorns the Piazza. Then I literally ran back to the station to get my luggages and caught the Eurostar to my next destination 'Roma'. Quiet and an express journey which costs quite a lot of money, I reached the Roma termini- Central station. Main problem after that was my Hostel was very far away from the Station and I needed to take the Metro and then a bus to reach there. The Metro lines were closed as they are constructing a their line (Rome has only 2 underground lines and every effort of their to dig deeper gets them to someething historical and then the archeological dept takes over and work is stalled). So after a bit of effort i reached my hostel which is far away from the city center and a bit closer to Vatican.**Contd... Look at my next post for my trip to Rome.
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