Fun in Firenze

It was finally an almost-sunny day when we docked in Livorno.  The major reason for docking in Livorno is to visit either Pisa or Florence, 15-minute or one-hour drives distant respectively.  We had previously visited Pisa and remember it well.  We had also previously visited Florence, with less happy memories.  I convinced Dwight that we should rent an angry little Italian car and drive to Florence to try to dispel unhappy memories of a dirty, dusty, noisy Florence.  So I became the calm driver of an angry little Italian car equipped with a crazy Italian GPS maven who kept repeating, “Exit right at the next exit,” and off we went to Florence.   Some of our old bad memories have been replaced by better ones, or at least different ones.  Florence is still far from the ideal place to visit.  I think I prefer to see all that beautiful Renaissance art work on my PowerPoint screen where it can be admired at leisure rather than knocking through crowds and ruining your feet on cobblestones.   Dwight braved his way through several blocks of hard stone streets before we found an internet café for a light lunch of sandwiches and Chianti. 

I tooled at top speed around Duomo square and into the Medici chapel, which I hadn’t seen before, and back we came.  We were thinking of driving through Lucca on the way home, but a heavy rain changed our minds.  What a fun day in Firenze!