We took the Trenitalia from Florence to Pisa Centrale (pronounced Pisa chentraaley). From the station, we walked the half hour to the tower. All through the streets, they have brand name stores and souvenir shops. We finally arrived at the tower and yes, it is a sight to see.
Lots of tourists too ofcourse, and we found a spot to sit in the shade and look at the tower and the hordes of tourists who were doing the "holding the weight of the tower picture" or "pushing the tower over" picture and it was amusing to see the different poses from our angle. :)
Got some pictures and our own "leaning on the tower of Pisa" picture (had to get one) and then walked back to the train station.
We reached Florence back by 2pm and went straight to the apartment to rest.
By evening, we were ready to venture out again and decided to go to see the statue of David at the Accademia. Again, we walked there - about 15 minutes and were in line by 5:40pm. Around that time of the day (museum closes at 6:50pm), the line was only 15-20 people long and they let in a bunch of people together - we were in 10 minutes later. We bought tickets at the counter too (8 Euros per adult, under 18 years no charge). We had looked up the option to buy online and it was 2 Euros more, and it didn't give us an option to buy for the same day. It probably helps if you come at peak time (mornings) and it saves you some time by not standing in the general line.
The statue of David is 14 feet tall and at that point in time, to get the proportions exact with a massive piece of marble was an extraordinary feat. You must visit it, if you are in Florence. The rest of the museum has biblical paintings and we saw a video on how they do panel paintings, which includes a wood base, paper on it, and then tracing the drawing on it, then painting it, and later carefully applying gold leaf in gentle layers, and finishing up! - it takes months to complete. What an amazing technique!
Lots of tourists too ofcourse, and we found a spot to sit in the shade and look at the tower and the hordes of tourists who were doing the "holding the weight of the tower picture" or "pushing the tower over" picture and it was amusing to see the different poses from our angle. :)
Got some pictures and our own "leaning on the tower of Pisa" picture (had to get one) and then walked back to the train station.
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| Leaning tower of Pisa |
We reached Florence back by 2pm and went straight to the apartment to rest.
By evening, we were ready to venture out again and decided to go to see the statue of David at the Accademia. Again, we walked there - about 15 minutes and were in line by 5:40pm. Around that time of the day (museum closes at 6:50pm), the line was only 15-20 people long and they let in a bunch of people together - we were in 10 minutes later. We bought tickets at the counter too (8 Euros per adult, under 18 years no charge). We had looked up the option to buy online and it was 2 Euros more, and it didn't give us an option to buy for the same day. It probably helps if you come at peak time (mornings) and it saves you some time by not standing in the general line.
The statue of David is 14 feet tall and at that point in time, to get the proportions exact with a massive piece of marble was an extraordinary feat. You must visit it, if you are in Florence. The rest of the museum has biblical paintings and we saw a video on how they do panel paintings, which includes a wood base, paper on it, and then tracing the drawing on it, then painting it, and later carefully applying gold leaf in gentle layers, and finishing up! - it takes months to complete. What an amazing technique!
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| Statue of David, Accademia, Florence |
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| Panel painting at the Accademia, Florence |
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