Hello!

Hello!

I am back. Here is a bit more about our trip to Firenze. Enjoy.

16 Oct 12

It is 6:00am and we are up early due to we are going to catch the train to Pisa and to Livorno. We had quite a night: first of all the noise from all of the people waiting to get into Il Contadina for dinner last night. Even though it is raining out the crowds are still there. Yes, the food is that good!

Next around 3:00am city workers were cleaning the streets and a machine was sweeping them as well. Also the trash bins were being emptied too! They made a lot of noise, so much for a good night's sleep, eh?

We left for the train station to catch our train to Pisa. It took about an hour to get there and it cost us $15 euros. We walked around Pisa for about an hour and a half before we arrived at the tower. We saw a sign that pointed the direction to the tower and about 15 minutes later there it was. It is fantastic.

We looked over the tower and the Duomo along the crowds that were there with us. We started to wear down so we stopped for something to eat and so we could get off of our feet.

We stopped at Trattoria Pizzeria. Elise ordered a Calzone and I ordered a pizza. We both had beers to get it all down. It was delicious. We continued to walk around the tower area. We stopped at a souvenir stand and we picked up a tower replica for Rosie and a tee-shirt for Johnny. Then we headed back to the train station to catch the train for Livorno.

We noticed that lots of people were getting on the train without a ticket so we decided to follow suit. Livorno is right outside of Pisa. We're bad right?

We arrived in Livorno and then we were punished for being bad. We decided to locate the area where I used to live, and we could not find it at all. We walked and walked looking for the street and the complex that I lived in 40 years ago. 

The weather was perfect and that was a good thing let me tell you. All of that walking was not a blessing at all. Elise had developed a blister on her foot and her leg started to bother her, and I was about to give out too!

We stopped in a pizza/bar place to call a cab to get us back to the train station and they did not have a phone but they gave us the number to call a cab. We went over to the next building which was a bar and we ordered a couple of beers. The bartender called us a cab to take us to the train station.

I asked the taxi driver about my old address and he said that it was two via Adolpho Tommasi streets in Livorno and mine was way on the other side of the city. Livorno is a huge port city that has grown by leaps and bounds since I lived there.

We paid the driver and we got back on the train this  time we paid for the train back to Florence. It took about two hours to get back to Florence. Our feet hurt and we were very tired, but it was a fun day.

It is now 6:30pm and we are back in our B&B. We are having leftover Greek food, with some rice and white beans covered in a very hot sauce that makes you eyes water. It is so good! It has been quite a day.

Chillin' on the train

Duomo (Pisa)

Duomo and Tower

Me and the Tower

Elise at the Tower

Elise likes the Tower

Lunch at Trattoria Pizzeria

Train that got us to Pisa

Train that got us to Livorno and back to Firenze