I spent the last couple of days exploring some of Tuscany. While there is a lot more that I still need to see, I did really enjoy what I got to! When coming down here, I had some plans to go to Siena and some small towns around the area, maybe do a wine tour – but the best laid plans.
Honestly – Italy has been interesting. I think I’ve known so many people who have been to Italy, lived in Italy, and even some that currently live in Italy, that it’s thrown me off a bit. I’ve found myself thinking on more than one occasion that Italy is a country I’d like to experience with others.
Obviously, I love to solo travel. But sometimes having others around would be nice. Italy has been that location for me. I thought about doing a wine tour, but didn’t want to do it solo as I don’t appreciate wine enough – I would’ve loved to do the tour with someone who would really appreciate it. I’ve found myself thinking that on a lot of my time in Tuscany. So I’ll return one day – just maybe with someone else too!
Florence
That all being said – I did still enjoy my time! Most of my time was spent in Florence. As is my normal – I walked everywhere. And for much of it I kept my phone in my pocket and just took random streets. I enjoy getting lost in a new city a lot more than I enjoy seeking out specific places. I may set off toward a destination so that I have a direction to start in, but I don’t typically care if I actually get to that location.
Some of the highlights that I saw:
- Basilica of Santa Croce
- Ponte Vecchio
- Centro Storico
- Piazza Signoria
- A filming for a movie (not sure what movie)
- Piazza del Duomo
- Baptistery of San Giovanni
- Piazza Santa Maria Novella
I had so many suggestions of food from people too – and I haven’t had a bad meal yet in Italy!
Pisa
I did do a short day trip to Pisa to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa. It’s kind of a trip. In person, it’s definitely leaning, but in pictures, it’s actually pretty hard to fully catch that it’s leaning. I didn’t do the iconic picture of pretending to either hold up or push down the tower – but I did see countless people who did.
Besides the tower, I honestly didn’t do much there. I did walk around a bit and got dinner there – but as I have been told by multiple people, there isn’t much in Pisa besides the tower. I met some American exchange students my last day in Florence that have been to Pisa many times to fly out of that airport who haven’t even bothered to see the tower except for out of the plane window, they go for the airport and that’s it. That seems to be a pretty common thing as well. Outside of the main street that is basically a straight shot from the station to the tower (with the river in between), the city that I walked around had almost no one. There were residential areas and obviously some businesses, but most of the focus of the city seemed to be on the very touristy main street where the main shops/restaurants were and the area immediately surrounding the tower.
It was still nice to see though! There are some remains of walls and towers all over the town – I even saw a sports center that was in an old walled off courtyard. Definitely easier to utilize what you have than build a stadium after knocking everything down! Also saw a sign for a “Husband Daycare” that made me literally laugh out loud.
0 Comments