Florence

Took a train back to Florence and grabbed a taxi to our hotel. We walked around just to familiarize ourselves with the city. Florence is filled with many little squares you run into with the most famous being the Piazza della Signoria. It has statues Judith and Holofernes by Donatello and David by Michelangelo, Neptune Fountain and many more.
Got up early the next day for breakfast and headed out for our Vespa City Tour. The company is located in the city and we were able to ride vintage vespa's. After a short introduction on driving (some people had never before) we headed out across the river and into the hills of Tuscany. It was only a small group of 8 Vespa's and we all followed the leader driving a vintage Fiat. There was also a family that drove behind everyone with a Fiat. We have learned over the years I am a better passenger so we rode double. We stopped at Piazzale Michelangelo for panoramic views of the city then onto the Basilica San Miniato al Monte. It sits at one of the highest points in the city. You can overlook the city and cemetery below. As we continued on, I was thankful I was not driving and could just take in the beautiful sights as we passed

hills filled with olive trees and rows of grapes vines. We passed over Ponte Vecchio "Old Bridge" noted for still having shops built along it, as was once common. Butchers initially occupied the shops, but today the shops are all jewelers. For lunch we stopped at a private residence in the hills. This home opens their door to teach a cooking class and to serve lunch for the Vespa tour each day. The food they served was all homemade and tasted wonderful sitting outside with an amazing view. When our meal was finished we hopped back on and headed into the city. We found a hop on bus, found a seat on the upper deck and learned about the city. It was a relaxing and warm afternoon.
We really are not into big groups on a bus, but we wanted to go to Pisa and the only tickets left to go up into the leaning tower was through a bus tour. So......we got on and had a wonderful day. We started off in a medieval town called Siena. It is known for the famous Palio horse-race that takes place twice a year. Dirt and sand are laid down in the town plaza and the horses are ridden bareback. The town is divided into 17 different districts. Each district cheers for their own horse and you do not choose your district, it is chosen for you depending on the location where you were born. So

there could be family members cheering on different horses. The town comes alive with colorful flags and banners during this time. They take this very seriously. The race was coming up in a few days and we watched them setting up bleachers and getting the track ready. We also visited the Duomo situated at the highest point of the city. This Gothic cathedral is one of Italy's first and it holds several valuable works of art from Donatello, Bernini and Michelangelo. The marble floor took 200 years to complete and designed by 40 Italian artists. Our next stop was an organic farm & winery. They gave us a tour of the working farm that would provide food for lunch. Our lunch was delicious with fresh pasta, bruschetta, cheeses and salad. After our lunch we drove to the town of San Gimignano. This was where our tour guide lived and she was very proud of this little town. We had time to walk around and grab some award winning gelato. Troy picked up some wild boar salami and we climbed the town's fortress in the public garden with views across the valleys. Our last stop of the day was the town of Pisa. The leaning tower is undoubtedly the most famous building in the city. They began building in 1173 and even when just 3 of the 8 stories were built, it was already sinking on one side. Over the next 180 years, different architectures attempted to straighten the bell tower, but it is still leaning. Climbing the tower is a unique experience. You get a little dizzy because the stairs are also leaning.
Driving home we saw a few fields of sunflowers growing towards the sun, but it was too late in the season for the fields of poppies.