Oosterdam European Adventure, Livorno, Italy... Part 1 of 2

Up again at the crack of dawn to capture our sail into the port of Livorno…  Our driver Leonardo picked us up at the port in Livorno for a tour of the Tuscany region. Once in Lucca, we met our guide Christian for a walking tour. Lucca, is known as the city of a hundred churches, the home of Puccini and for its medieval city walls that still encircle most of the historic old town. We walked through the city visiting Lucca Cathedral, San Michele in Foro and many squares. I climbed up the Guinigi Tower for a magnificent view of the city from above without all the construction. The old city was very busy with the monthly antique market and the Lucca Summer Music Festival. We then drove an hour to Florence and stopped at Piazzale Michelangelo located high above the city of Florence…the views over the city, the Vecchio Bridge and the Duomo Cathedral and dome were fabulous! Next, we went to the heart of Florence in Piazza Republica, stopping at Gilli’s, the oldest cafe in Florence. This was a great place to start our walking tour of Florence…From here we went to the Piazza del Duomo one of the main squares in the city and contains some of the best architecture in Italy. Then we went to Piazza della Signoria, an open-air museum with the copy of Michelangelo's David and the statues of Perseus, Neptune Fountain, Hercules, City Hall and Loggia dei Lanzi, an outdoor sculpture gallery. We walked along the Arno River to the Vecchio Bridge where we met our driver and headed to Pisa. Once in Pisa we stopped at the Knights Square and then we walked to the Piazza dei Miracoli home of the iconic Leaning Tower, Cathedral and the Baptistery. Our stop in Pisa was a was a nice end to our day in Tuscany…Great day thanks to Leonardo and Christian!