Sunday morning we woke up early, had breakfast, and said goodbye to the Riviera.  We then boarded the train to Pisa, on our way to Florence.  This train was a pit.  It was full of people, in awful condition, no a/c, no water in any of the bathrooms.  Fortunately half the people got off to go to the beach at Monterosso al Mare.  From the train we saw the marble quarries in Carrara, and saw plenty of marble blocks near the track ready for shipment.

We had to change trains in Pisa, so we decided to try to see the Tower.  I spent a while trying to find an open Tourist Information booth check our bags - the book said one of them should be open on Sunday, but nothing is open on Sunday in Italy.  We hired two taxis to take the six of us and our bags to the Tower, then took turns guarding the bags while the others saw the Field of Miracles.  I was struck by the Tower, but even more by the rest of the Field.  While the entire world knows about the Tower, few have heard of the rest of the Field.

The Baptistery was closing, and tours of the Duomo was closed for Sunday services.  They did allow you in to the back of the Duomo during the services, which was fascinating.  You could hear the services in Latin, take pictures, and see the Duomo for free!

CJ

Robby

Mass in the Duomo

The Field of Miracles - the Baptistery, Duomo, and Tower. The Cemetery is in back of them all, appearing on the far left. We sat in shade of the Duomo Museum on the far right.

Click here for a 475k panorama of Field of Miracles. 

The 'back' of the Tower and the Duomo.

After a couple of hours we got back on the train, and in another hour we arrived in Florence.  It seemed like cheating in Florence - since we'd been there before, we didn't have any problems finding the hotel.  We took a break for an hour or so at the hotel.  I had made reservations for the Acadamia to visit David at 5:30.  He was almost as awe inspiring the second time around, and the scaffolding was gone, providing a much nicer experience.  Kathy bought another David bookmark which she soon lost... again.