22.5.2000 You can walk from one end of Florence to the other easily. This city, unlike the others, doesn’t require you to use public transportation to get around. As always, the best way to see the city is by foot.

The GIARDINO DI BOBOLI is a big garden. Big deal.

I enter through the front entrance and exit out the back. I figure I’ll walk to Piazza Michelangiolo along the back road. This is a long, winding road, with little in the way of views until you’re almost at the Piazza.

It’s better just to backtrack through the garden to the front entrance and walk along the river.

I took the back road and halfway to the Piazza, there’s a sign showing a church up the street. I decide to check it out. Miles up the hill later (I kept convincing myself it couldn’t be much farther), I find the church is closed. My point being, it wouldn’t have been worth it even if it was open.

The best view I had of Florence was from the PIAZZA MICHELANGIOLO (I didn’t get to see the top of the Duomo). There’s another copy of David here, this time made of bronze.

23.5.2000 Every Tuesday there’s a market along the river. Just head west along the north side of the river. About three bridges past PONTE VECCHIO the market begins. Lots of deli meats, T-shirts, kitchen utensils, and other sundry items.

Right in the middle of the path I saw guys selling fake video games laid out on a cloth. Italy is known for their piracy. Something like 80% of their games are pirated. Every once in a while they’d scoop up the games in the cloth and reposition themselves away from police.

The lines at the UFFIZI and the DUOMO were way too long. The wait to get into the Uffizi was three hours! I decided I wasn’t that interested.

GELATO is the greatest dessert ever.

Start off with the fruit flavors. I tried some of the fancier concoctions but I always returned to “limone e fragola.” Lemon and strawberry.

Every chance we got, any excuse at all, we used it to get gelato. Mmm Mmm Mmm. Every one made it a point to have it at least once a day. Supposedly, the best place in all of Italy for gelato is the gelateria on the northwest corner of Piazza della Signoria (Caffe Fiorenza). I rarely got the cones, since they would detract from the true flavor of the gelato. You see, I am a true connoisseur…

24.5.2000 The train ride to Cinque Terre is pretty straightforward. You take the train to PISA. From there you can either take the frequent Roma-La Spezia line to La Spezia and then the frequent Cinque Terre train into any of the five towns. Or, from Pisa you can wait for the less frequent train to Torino which passes through three of the five towns in Cinque Terre. I left the station at Pisa, walked into town to see the Leaning Tower, took my pictures and returned to the station in about an hour and half. It takes about twenty minutes to walk to the Leaning Tower, so if you can, lock your bags up in a station locker.