Pisa

We left Monterosso this morning and headed for Pisa – about a hour by train. Upon arrival we stored our bags and set off. On all the maps we have been given – what looks like a really long way turns out to be about ten minutes – its very encouraging. We walked to the Leaning Tower. You have to book to go up the Tower – we had about an hour and a half to fill in so we had a look around the other buildings there. The Tower was originally built as the Bell Tower to the Cathedral and was started in 1173! There are approximately 300 steps to climb. Our bodies were still sore from the big walk yesterday.

Then we went on to Florence about another hour by train. Our hotel room is quite roomy by European standards and the bed is big and comfy. We set off for a walk from our Hotel. We are staying not far from the Ponte Vecchio Bridge

This bridge is lined with Jewellery shops (Teresa you would love it). I get the feeling that Florence is a shopping mecca. We had a look around – there was a special madri gras type night where the streets were closed off and the restaurants put their tables out into the street, there was live music playing very nice and festive

There was a lovely sunset and we stood on the bridge listening to a great guy singing and watched the sun go down. Very beautiful