Florence is a city of art - sculptures, paintings, architecture - and it is everywhere. At the Basilica di Santa Croce there was a replica of the Statue of David, but also several other original sculptures and statues. It is hard to fully grasp the magnitude of these pieces of art and the lives of the passionate artists who created them.

We visited the Museum of Academia on our arrival to Florence. This is where the original Statue of David by Michelangelo is located. No pictures are allowed here (and we won't show you our simulated poses - no, ours were not nude like the original ;-). We had a quick lunch on a narrow street at a walk up, 12-foot wide panino (sandwich) shop. They are made with smallish round buns - no snickering - and are generally quite basic (e.g. thinly sliced meat, cheese, t...

On our way to Florence through the rolling hills of Tuscany, we stopped at an olive pressing station where they make a variety of.. of course.. molto bene (very fine) olive oils. However, it is also one many places where you can buy wine by the the liter from a pump just like gas - bring in your container and "fill'er up"! It was surprisingly good. The wine is transported in tanker trucks just like gas. On the spur of the moment, we decided to pull off the road ...

Our private (Mercedes van) limo tour began with a half-hour drive from the port of Livorno to Pisa. We refrained from taking the goofy holding-up-the-tower shot (why, I don't know - guess our stupid idiot instincts hadn't kicked in for the day yet :-). We got the first tour to the top. Talk about vertigo-city. The interior marble steps are well rutted from inside to outside as you go round and round. Will have a short video of the bell tower ringing to post when ...