Hi All!

Today was a wonderful day full of sightseeing, walking, and a gourmet lunch!

We started off MUCH too early, disembarking the ship in Lovorno, Italy, and driving about 90 minutes to the town of Florence where we first stopped at the Accademia, home of the David.

Funny thing about the David is... the hands are totally proportionately screwed up! The tour guide explained that away saying that he was originally meant to be at a higher elevation, in a church on a raised platform, but I'm inclined to think that artists, just like the rest of us, make little oopsies every once in a while.

Next, we walked to the basilica of Florence, which is covered in this amazing white marble. That marble comes from the pisan mountains- we drove where we could see them and there were white slopes- me, being a typical Canadian, I assumed it was snow and thought nothing of it. But, our tour guide explained that the white slopes are actually marble mines, the same marble that the David is carved out of, too.

After the basilica, we walked to the political center of Florence (which was once the capital of Italy since Rome was it's own kingdom for a period of time, ruled by the Church). Lots of really cool statues hang out outside there, all day and year long, including this bronze statue of Hercules holding Medusa's severed head.

Next, we walked to Santa Cruce square, I think that is like their term for 'Sacred Heart'. Another gorgeous church with a facade from the pisan mountains. From there, we walked on to the bus and headed out to a beaaautiful restaurant and hotel for our lunch. It truly was gourmet, and the wine was great. Me and my wine.

Next, I napped the 45 minutes to Pisa and we headed to the Square of Miracles. The Duomo and the baptistry there were exceptionally beautiful, and the leaning tower is really on quite the angle.

I'll admit- climbing the tower was more scary than I expected. What you don't realize, looking at it, is that the stairs on the inside are on that same angle. And diveted and smooth from hundreds of years of people walking up and down those same stairs. Going up was just realizing you're on a tilt... going down was digging your fingernails into the walls hoping that you don't slide right off the step.

Next, we drove on back to Lovorno and hopped back on the ship! And that is today, glossed over.

ps. I miss my parents and my puppies :(