We did not have to catch the bus until 2 pm so had all morning to laze around and have a bit of a catch our breath time. Then it was to Florence (Firenze) and again travelling through the lovely Italian landscape. We arrived in good time at Camping International. (Camping Internazionale Firence)and found our accommodation was to be again a shared caravan, this time with a couple from New Zealand. Turned out that we were quite compatible and walked together to buy pizza to share for the evening meal. We discovered that traditional Italian pizza is not like our Australian ones but a very light wafer thin base and with only a simple topping so we had to top up with some pasta also.

While at the pizza shop trying to get around the language barrier and order we were pleasantly surprised to discover the owner was actually Scottish. Turned out she had come to Italy 28 years previously and met her Italian beau and was now an Italian herself, mind you she still spoke pretty good Scottish accented English. She laughingly claimed that her man was not the Italian Stallion type.

Next morning we made the short trip to Pisa en route back to Nice, France. The bus hostess announced we would have an hour or so to look around, while that was plenty, the tower was more interesting than we had imagined, and is in fact the bell tower of Pisa Cathedral, which is in itself a remarkable building. The complex (in the Piazza del Duomo) was begun in 1173 but due to long interruptions took some 200 years to complete. Contrary to some stories the tower was not built to lean, however did start to lean during construction.

From Pisa the bus took a route close to the coast but high up, giving amazing views as we travelled. There were many amazingly high bridges, tunnels and toll gates and at one stage Monaco was pointed out well below our road.

Footnote: The Historic Centre of Florence and Piazza del Duomo, Pisa are UNESCO World Heritage listed.