Florence (Firenze) Continued...:

Day two on the Vespa's, I have to admit I am getting addicted to these things. Now that we have been on the Vespa for a day we are feeling a little more comfortable, but we still wanted to go out of town in order to get away from the people and traffic.


Today we started with the Duomo climb to the top... four hundred and some odd steps to the top! They were all made out of stone and all shapes and sizes. First we were able to see the interior of the dome much closer, the paintings are incredible once you can see them up close.




Then we had a few hundred more steps and it was worth it because the view's from the top are incredible. Yes, the climb is actually worth it.

After the Duomo, we jumped back on the scooters and off into the country we went. We drove up to a town named Fielsole. The Romans settled for a point in time because it was cooler than in the valley where Florence is located. We traveled on past the town and drove up through the hills. It was like mountain biking without all the energy and you could go much faster and could cover a lot of ground.

We were on a one car width road and some country roads and it reminded me of Napa Valley, without all the tourists. Lots of vinyards and olive tree's etc. and huge old homes. It was the highlight of our trip to be riding in the wind up in the hills of Tuscany.... ;)

Today was a sad moment in time because we had to return the Vespa's (scooters). We has our picture taken with the owner of the company who was such a cool guy. I want to buy a scooter now... so much fun, very convenient and better on the environment!!!
After we turned in the scooters, we were at a moment of "what should we do now". Our options... go shopping or take a day trip somewhere.... We decided to take a trip to Pisa to visit the "leaning tower of Pisa". Sigh... It was just ok.

The tower and the church was incredible, but they charge to see each part and gave you a time when you could see it which was hours later... Scott and I decided it was a ploy to keep tourists in town longer as we discovered this was the only attraction had to offer.
We walked around and took pictures of the incredible architecture and stopped to have a snack. The food AND the wine was horrible, I guess we will not have to go back to Pisa in our lifetime. Florence is still the highlight of our trip and we look forward to visiting again!!!

So tomorrow is our last day in Florence, and then it is off to Pompeii. The hotel has internet access there, too, so we should be pretty good about keeping up on the blog.

Buona Sera!