Pisa and Florence x's 2

I am sure you are all done seeing pictures of Italy by now, but our vacation didn't stop there and I feel this compulsion to finish out. I will try to be quick, but you know how that goes.
We piled into this our trusty "Ducato" and headed north by northwest.
Pisa was our plan on Monday. We started out at the leaning tower, where else??? It was an amazing piece of art! The leaning aspect is so unique that everyone seems to forget how beautiful it is as a bell tower, understandably, but the sculptures and carvings were gorgeous, as well!
Only a few of us were up for the hike to the top, and the views more than compensated us for our efforts
After enjoying the views over Pisa we climbed our way back down the crazy-crooked stairs
and headed to a small restaurant in town for some delicious seafood! As usual we enjoyed the various sights we passed along the way. Pisa is very much a college town so we enjoyed all the university buildings and people.

After filling our bellies
we had only the markets to hit. We enjoyed a bit of shopping and then piled back into the van and headed to the coast.
As a young boy Marco vacationed along the Italian coast at a small resort called L'aprodo. That place was still standing.
It has changed a bit, but it was great to visit with the original owners as they all took a walk down memory lane together.
Tuesday took us to Florence for the first time.
What a beautiful place! I would have spent all sorts of time there if I could have!! So fresh!
We saw David and the Duomo,
hiked to the top of that great edifice (NOT for the faint of heart!)
The views were breathtaking and the weather couldn't have been better!
After taking in all the countryside and building tops we headed back down the narrow stairway.
We peeked into the church itself and admired the very famous bronze baptistry doors of Ghiberti's.
Such a biblical story they told.
After some more pizza we hit the markets for some fabulous jewelry, leather and the like. Ahhh, too much to see and not enough time!
Our day had to come to an end long before I had hoped but fortunately we were able to return on Wednesday for our grand tour of the Uffizi to take in some of the greatest pieces of art in all the world!
Loved it!
The weather was cooler and rainy so it was a great day for a museum... and shopping and eating, of course. There are still many sights in Florence I hope to return to, but that would probably be the case even if we had spend an entire week there. It is a city of endless treasures! Just be sure not to park in a no parking zone...the impound isn't one of them.