European Moto Trip - North Of Italy: Day 4

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Day 4 - Perugia to Florence

Today we rode as a group. Left Perugia at about 11. It was drizzling when we got bikes from parking but it stopped as we were leaving. We liked Perugia a lot. Very beautiful city with lots of character. We were staying in the University district and saw lots of young people. Riding with streets wet was quite tricky.

Riding in the Tuscany area is very beautiful and Bo usually leads, Steve takes next position and we close up the rear.

On the way to Florence we stopped at Cortona, Italy for lunch. What a picturesque place and great photo opportunities.

We then moved onto Florence.

After arriving in Florence we drove the bikes to hotel, which is quite central. Two blocks to David and three blocks to Dome. We carried luggage to room and then put bikes in parking lot. Parking in Florence is a nightmare and I am happy we had parking for the night.

We put on our walking gear and made our way into actual city to find some of the favorite tourist attractions. Yes, we did see David (the original) in all its glory and the dome.

Unfortunately the cathedral was already closed but we still had about 15 minutes to climb the tower also known as Giotto's campanile which is a free-standing campanile that is part of the complex of buildings that make up Florence Cathedral on the Piazza del Duomo. Standing adjacent the Basilica of Santa Maria del Fiore and the Baptistry of St. John, the tower is one of the showpieces of the Florentine Gothic architecture with its design by Giotto, its rich sculptural decorations and the polychrome marble encrustations.

This slender structure stands on a square plan with a side of 14.45 meters (47.41 ft). It attains a height of 84.7 meters (277.9 ft) sustained by four polygonal buttresses at the corners. For us humans it had 414 stairs and by the time we got up to the top we were tired but also overjoyed. The pics from the various states ere quite spectacular.

After the tower we went to see the replica of David (which is not the same as the original) and the two most well known bridges in Florence. The sun was setting so it would give plenty opportunityies for some great pics. On the bridge we also found a Pandora and it was great to see Paula's happy face when she got a new amulet for her Pandora bracelet. Spoke to Steve about the Fiat 500 and we joked around when we saw a very old model in mint condition.

That night we went for dinner at a very nice restaurant called Goldenview.. We all had pizzas that we shared.

Before going back to hotel we had some gelato, that we learned during trip that it differs from ice cream in that it has less fat and less air and also cannot get frozen. It was delicious.