O'Vesuvio versus Dominos.......

The previous night's quiet romantic stroll through the streets of Pisa / views of the leaning tower seemed a distant memory this morning. TOURISTS had invaded!!!! After an interesting breakfast including cold coffee and cakes, we headed back into the Piazza Miracale to find coach loads of school kids and other tourists en-masse swarming the area. Despite the numbers we visited the Baptistry, Cathedral, tombs and of course the magnificent Leaning Tower. We love the architecture and specifically white colour of the stone used to make all the above. The pale stone contrasted beautifully with the lush green grass surrounding them. We spent the morning wondering around Pisa, (which was very pleasant, but no more time really needed), before setting off on our next leg of the journey.

Nuns on the run?!

On route to Florence we decided to take a detour to Lucca and let the SatNav drive us around the stunning Tustany countryside through numerous cute villages and towns. Despite Lucca looking very pleasant, we decided to head off fairly swiftly to Florence and our hotel, Hotel Villa Liberty, our home for 2 nights.

After a quick 'powernap', we headed off into the town center for a pizza and beer (budget night tonight!). All Sonja seemed to be interested in was the Ice Cream. I have to say, they did look amazing. "Tomorrow Sonja, I promise!" Still, an ice cream would have be a cheaper option than the jewelery she was eyeing up on Ponte Vecchio bridge. Details on Florence to come on tomorrow's blog.

We managed to find a great restaurant / fast food establishment (O'Vesuvio) for our long awaited pizza and beer and it did not disappoint. Full up we had a lovely stroll back along the riverside, where I almost got run over by a cyclist whilst staring at a few Italian ladies. Oops!!! This place is going to test our marriage as there's a lot of beautiful people!!!! Just kidding, there are millions!!!

Just booked to go and see opera for tomorrow night, can't wait!!!

PS:  the Leaning Tower of Pisa leans due to subsidence of the foundations (only 3m deep) which happened very soon after they started to build it and way before they even finished it, so it was doomed from the start.  The stone which they used also eroded and compressed to add to the problem.

Night night!!!