Today we went to St. Mark’s square and basilica. We also visited Doge’s Palace and the Correr Museum. No pictures were allowed, but I snuck a few in Doge’s Palace, which you won’t be able to see until we get home and I do the full web page. Here’s St. Mark’s Square.
Two hours from Florence by train is Venice. We took the vaporetto (water bus) to our hotel. It was a pleasant 45 minute ride down the Grand Canal. Our hotel is steps away from St. Mark’s Square. We spent the afternoon wandering around. We tried getting lost, but I can’t stand not knowing where I am, so I kept looking on the map. Venice is a tangled mess of streets. It’s real easy to get lost, but you’re on an island, so there is only so far you can go.
Hold on to your wallets, we head to Venice tomorrow.
Lucca is about a half hour from Pisa (OK not everything is an hour away). They have converted the old wall around the city into a park. It’s a thick wall. You can walk, bike or jog around the old center of the city. We walked it. It’s 2.5 miles all the way around. There’s been a wall around Lucca for 2000 years. They also have a piazza that is shaped like an old Roman amphitheater. The amphitheater was cannibalized after the fall of Rome and all that remains is the shape.
The image is vertical for some reason. I took it as a panorama with my phone. I’ll fix it when I get home. In the mean time, turn your head.
Today we went to Pisa and Lucca. Pisa is about an hour by train from Florence. Everything is an hour away. The farther it is the faster the train.
Pisa has a tower. I have confirmed that it is in fact leaning. It was VERY windy.
