Ahhh, Florence…the country’s cultural center, the heart of the Renaissance, and one of my favorite cities. Few people can visit this location and not be impressed by its history, importance, or beauty. Many of the buildings were constructed in the 1300s-1400s and they are awe-inspiring to explore.

Our city tour began at the city’s edge and led us past Santa Croce, the largest Franciscan church in the world. Many famous historical icons are buried within, including Michelangelo and Galileo. We also passed the Uffizi Gallery (closed on Mondays) where we could admire the statues of historical figures adorning the outside columns.

We saw the Palazzo Vecchio, the Ponte Vecchio bridge, and the Duomo and Baptistry before being turned loose to wander on our own. Since we already took many photos of the beautiful buildings, we headed down a small street to grab lunch. We ended up at Cimatori, which our guide recommended, as it served the traditional Florentine steak on the fixed menu. It was another three-course meal featuring pasta, steak, and tiramisu with large portions. Our bellies were stuffed so walking around the city felt good for the digestive process.

Backtracking, we walked back to the “straw market” next to the bronze boar statue where many leather goods are sold. All types of vendors set up their goods, selling simple bags and wallets, and some have more fancy designs, colors, and textures. After some shopping, we made it back to the Ponte Vecchio bridge to do some jewelry window shopping. It is hard to imagine the original shops were all filled with butchers.  The change to jewelry shops is much nicer and many of the tiny shops still have the original wood panel facades that close over the front of the shops at the end of the night. Naturally, our visit wouldn’t be complete without visiting the specialty chocolate shop to get individual chocolates where you can pay by weight.

As we departed the next morning, we admired the vistas of the Apennine Mountain range, complete with snow-capped features. Arriving at the Pisa parking area, we departed the bus and hopped on a mini tram that brought us right to the complex entrance. We had a beautiful sunny, warm day to explore this site and the structures did not disappoint. We all took multiple photos of ourselves trying to reinforce the amazing leaning The Leaning Tower of Pisa, which is the bell tower of the square.

Walking around the back of the tower, we could see the Baptistry, which is the largest in the world, and the beautiful cathedral. Although it was free to enter, we still needed to get tickets for the cathedral and we were happy to visit another beautiful building.

Saying goodbye to this beautiful complex, we headed out of Pisa and onto the Cinque Terre region, which translates to “five lands.” This area of five small towns are all seaside/hilltop towns that used to be accessible only by boat. In recent years, a local train now connects these areas, which is how we arrived to Vernazza. We had a short time to explore the town, so after climbing down to sea level from the train platform, our first agenda was to find a location for lunch. We quickly found Ananasso Bar and grabbed a table. Known for their focaccia bread, we tried a variety of different sandwiches and enjoyed the service and environment. After lunch and coffee, we enjoyed the views from the water’s edge just a few yards from the restaurant’s door. We admired this charming and colorful town which about only 800 people call home. It’s amazing that even in small towns like this, there are wonderful architectural gems to admire, and feats of engineering as buildings seem to come directly out of the Mediterranean Sea.

Backtracking to the train and bus, we drove on amazing coastal roads, hugging cliffs and hilltops as we made our way to Genoa. Once there, we had time to look around, explore some churches, and grab another cappuccino.

We also noticed some lovely painted buildings that we admired.
The city’s architecture was wonderful on its own, but the paintings were unexpected
and amazing.