Pisa and Florence

Another day trip that I was lucky enough to go on with Ida's host family was to Florence and Pisa. First of all her host Dad told us we would be going to Florence with a possible "sorpresa". Later on we learnt that that "sorpresa" was a stop by in Pisa on the way home! I know this is extremely stereotypical but I'd always dreamt of going to Pisa and taking the typical photo holding up the tower - now I can say that I have!

Florence is such a beautiful city and last time I visited it was love at first sight; this second trip didn't disappoint either! We spent our time roaming the streets and visiting a couple of art galleries including the famous Uffizi Gallery . At school in New Zealand I never studied art history but here in Italy it's one of the subjects I've been studying at school. Art here also seems to be woven into every single subject because it's so important to the Italian culture, because of this I recognised so many of the paintings in the museums from my year at school here in Italy. It made the museum trips have so much more significance to me than they would have done beforehand, because instead of seeing paintings I knew nothing about I'd recognise ones that had come up in class. Inside the Uffizi there were paintings such as Botticelli's La Primavera and The Birth of Venus, which were both amazing to see in real life! We also stumbled across an old photo machine where Laura, Ida and I took some instant black and white snaps which I just know are going to be so special in the future.

The next stop was Pisa! We parked in a supermarket carpark and walked the short distance over to the square where the Leaning Tower is located. When I caught the first glimpse of the tower I felt like I was dreaming. It was similar to the feeling I got the first time I saw the Colosseum in real life back at the beginning of my exchange; overwhelming excitement and in a way, confusion. It was just so strange to think I was there and I kept thinking 'but wait how am I here?!' I'd grown up seeing photos of these places, and seeing them on TV but although I'd dreamt of seeing them in real life one day I think a little part of me still thought it wasn't going to happen but then there I was, standing in front of the Leaning Tower of Pisa posing for the stereotypical tourist photo of the back of my Danish friend who I'd just spent the last year living in Italy with. I definitely had to blink twice.

Other than the tower, cathedral and baptistry in Piazza dei Miracoli (Square of Miracles) there were a number of touristy restaurants and shops on the surrounding streets. Outside of that tourist swarm seemed to be a normal residential area with not much else to see but I'd love to go back one day and explore the littler known parts of the city. I'm sure there's some beautiful places that get lost in the excitement everyone has for the tower!