# Florence and Pisa



## Benonie (Dec 21, 2005)




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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

Firenze really is a treat.


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## Benonie (Dec 21, 2005)

It sure is Jane! Was love by first sight.


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## Benonie (Dec 21, 2005)

The stunning Palazzo Vecchio.





















Death mask of Dante Alighieri.


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## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

Great, very nice updates Benonie :cheers:


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## Benonie (Dec 21, 2005)

Thank you Christos! :cheers:


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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

Fabulous!


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## karlvan (Jan 31, 2011)

splendid....I love these two cities where one can see lots of priceless art pieces.


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## danmartin1985 (Mar 5, 2012)

awesome....I love your extensive coverage of these cities....like the details of the cathedral, the marketplace and other lovely streets and bridges.


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## Benonie (Dec 21, 2005)

Climbing up the tower of Palazzo Vecchio:


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## lezgotolondon (Aug 31, 2010)

wow these are amazing shots


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## Benonie (Dec 21, 2005)

Thank you, it's an amazing city!


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## Benonie (Dec 21, 2005)




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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

The Italians know how to make cars fit for city living.


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## Benonie (Dec 21, 2005)




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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

Bellissimo!


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## Benonie (Dec 21, 2005)

^^ Grazie Jane!


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## DWest (Dec 3, 2009)

Florence is practically a museum of medieval arts.
lovely shots.


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## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

Great, very nice updates as well


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## Benonie (Dec 21, 2005)

Thank you DWest & Christos!


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## MilbertDavid (Nov 23, 2012)

absolutely a showcase of the Middle Age cities and its arts and architecture.
very nice photos of a breathtaking place.


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## Benonie (Dec 21, 2005)

Thank you MilbertDavid! More pictures coming soon!


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## Benonie (Dec 21, 2005)

Battistero di San Giovanni on the left:



On the right:



Inside:


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## Benonie (Dec 21, 2005)

Climbing that magnificent _Duomo_:


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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

Spectacular!


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## paul62 (Jan 27, 2012)

:applause: Excellent.


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## Benonie (Dec 21, 2005)

Thank you Jane and Paul! :cheers1:


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## Benonie (Dec 21, 2005)




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## Benonie (Dec 21, 2005)




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## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

^^ Great, very nice updates :cheers:


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## paul62 (Jan 27, 2012)

Beautiful.


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## Benonie (Dec 21, 2005)

^^ Thank you again! :cheers1:





Galleria degli Uffizi:


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## paul62 (Jan 27, 2012)

Enthralling. Nice shots.


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## Benonie (Dec 21, 2005)

Thank you again Paul. That's all for Firenze, I think. Leaving for Pisa very soon...


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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

Thanks for the wonderful images of Florence. I really must visit.


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## Benonie (Dec 21, 2005)

You sure must Jane. You'll love it!


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## Benonie (Dec 21, 2005)

*To Pisa!*

Rail traffic between Florence and Pisa was thoroughly disrupted that day. Time for some train spotting at Santa Maria Novella railway station:










Okay, no flashy high speed train for us, but this one was comfortable enough:


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## lezgotolondon (Aug 31, 2010)

So are you still traveling? how long are you staying in pisa? need any tip?

I apologize for our crappy train service, it's ridicolous the Florence-Pisa is a very important line for tourism and commuters and we have refurbished old trains and almost the same transit times of the early 20th century.


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## Benonie (Dec 21, 2005)

No, not really. We're allready back home now, preparing the trip to our new destianation next week.  
And the train connection between Florence and Pisa was quite allright to us. But there seemed to be a security problem somewhere in between the two cities. Police controlled every passenger on blocked trains, or so.


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## Benonie (Dec 21, 2005)

*Pisa*

First impressions of Pisa:


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## paul62 (Jan 27, 2012)

Wonderful shots. I have not yet been to Italy, but these pictures make me want to.


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## Benonie (Dec 21, 2005)

You should visit Italy Paul, that's for sure. :cheers:


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## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

Great, very nice updates :cheers:


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## Benonie (Dec 21, 2005)

Thank you again Christos! :cheers1:


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## Benonie (Dec 21, 2005)

More Pisa:


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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

Pisa looking just fine, too!


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## lezgotolondon (Aug 31, 2010)

Benonie, did you miss corso Italia, borgo stretto & co? Nice shots btw


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## Benonie (Dec 21, 2005)

^^ I'm afraid so. We took another way to the Campo Miracoli... But still passed some nice neighbourhoods.


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## lezgotolondon (Aug 31, 2010)

Benonie said:


> ^^ I'm afraid so. We took another way to the Campo Miracoli... But still passed some nice neighbourhoods.


you avoided 75% of the stuff to see in Pisa. hno:

I blame the tourism office and the non existent touristic trails :bash:


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## Benonie (Dec 21, 2005)

Don't blame them too much. We only made a day trip from Firenze. But because we had a serious train delay (105 minutes in total!), we didn't have time to visit the whole city. So we took the shortest way from the sttaion to the Campo Miracoli. 
But don't worry, we had a great time, loved Pisa and will definitely return to Tuscany in the future.


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## Benonie (Dec 21, 2005)




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## paul62 (Jan 27, 2012)

Beautiful.


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## Benonie (Dec 21, 2005)

^^ It sure is Paul!


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## lezgotolondon (Aug 31, 2010)

you took via santa maria, a cool road but in a decadend shape. 
Fortunately it's going to be partially pedestrianized in september and the asphalt will be substituted.

Here a look of the itinerary: http://www.turismo.pisa.it/en/itinerary/


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## Benonie (Dec 21, 2005)

Thanks for the link Lezgotolondon! We didn't bother about the shape of the streets. There wasn't much traffic, weather was good and surroundings were beautiful.


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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

Beautiful, muted colours....


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## Benonie (Dec 21, 2005)

^^ Me too Jane. some more colors:


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## paul62 (Jan 27, 2012)

You get to see some wonderful and varied places Benonie. Nice shots.


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## lezgotolondon (Aug 31, 2010)

So you got to see piazza dei cavalieri, great!


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## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

Amazing, very nice updates as usually :cheers:


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## lezgotolondon (Aug 31, 2010)

did you climb the tower? how long did you wait if so?


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## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

@Benonie: Welcome and we expecting more updates (if it possible)


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## mb92 (Sep 13, 2012)

Wonderful photos. :applause:


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## Benonie (Dec 21, 2005)

Thank you! 


lezgotolondon said:


> did you climb the tower? how long did you wait if so?


^^ No we didn't. We didn't book in advance and didn't have time enough to stand in line. But we did visit the battistero, the dome and the Camposanto.


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## lezgotolondon (Aug 31, 2010)

Benonie said:


> Thank you!  ^^ No we didn't. We didn't book in advance and didn't have time enough to stand in line. But we did visit the battistero, the dome and the Camposanto.


Right, you said you had only few hours to visit the city!


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## edubejar (Mar 16, 2003)

When approximately were residential buildings in Florence that look like this built? 15th or 16th century, maybe? You find many buildings like this in the historical centers of Italian cities but I'm not very sure if they are from Medieval Times/Renaissance or if they are from the time just after that. It seems to me that Baroque became the style in the 17th century (or even a little earlier in Italy), so I assume these non-Baroque buildings are from before.


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## Benonie (Dec 21, 2005)

^^ I like them, but I don't know how old they are. I suppose it are just modest dwellings standing there for centuries and transformed over the years. Maybe an Italian citizen could tell more about it?


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## lezgotolondon (Aug 31, 2010)

I can't see the pic anymore


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## Benonie (Dec 21, 2005)

^^ This one?










I have no problem seeing it...


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## Benonie (Dec 21, 2005)

Il Duomo di Santa Maria Assunta


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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

What style of architecture would you call that building? Spanish Baroque or similar?


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## Benonie (Dec 21, 2005)

The cathedral is medieval and romanesque with Byzantine influence. Though like in most churches some elements of the duomo are from a later century.


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## paul62 (Jan 27, 2012)

:applause: Eccellente.


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## lezgotolondon (Aug 31, 2010)

openlyJane said:


> What style of architecture would you call that building? Spanish Baroque or similar?


Pisan romanesque

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanesque_architecture#Ecclesiastical_architecture 

There is a well done wiki page in italian if you are interested


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## Benonie (Dec 21, 2005)




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## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

Once again great, very nice photos :cheers:


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## Benonie (Dec 21, 2005)

Thank you Christos!


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## Benonie (Dec 21, 2005)

Campo Santo:


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## Benonie (Dec 21, 2005)




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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

Just stunning! I love Italy.


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## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

Stunning, very nice updates indeed! :cheers:


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## lezgotolondon (Aug 31, 2010)

Great photos! 
You should have come to the Luminara(which is taking place tomorrow) to take amazing pics!










Full HD timelapse: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_dxPXXK5Kc


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## Benonie (Dec 21, 2005)

I wish I could!  Looks gorgeous on that time laps!

I suppose '_Luminara_' is a kind of feast of light, to celibrate midsummer?


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## lezgotolondon (Aug 31, 2010)

Benonie said:


> I wish I could!  Looks gorgeous on that time laps!
> 
> I suppose '_Luminara_' is a kind of feast of light, to celibrate midsummer?




Nope, we are in Italy and 99% of the traditional holidays are religion related(truly Holy days).
It's the the feast before the San Ranieri'sday, patron saint of Pisa
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainerius

The Luminara today is pretty big, it attracts more than 100k visitors, lots of people partying all around the historical centre.


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## paul62 (Jan 27, 2012)

A wonderful thread.


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## Benonie (Dec 21, 2005)

Thank you Paul! :cheers:


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## Benonie (Dec 21, 2005)

*Pisa at sunset:*


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## lezgotolondon (Aug 31, 2010)

great shots!

are we near the end of your trip in Pisa? I can see it was almost sunset when you took the last photos


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## paul62 (Jan 27, 2012)

:applause: One of those moments where your camera has to be ready at the right place, at exactly the right time. Brilliant shot this one.


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## Salazar Rick (Feb 6, 2009)

In my opinion Italian Cities are very beautiful... maybe the most beautifuls in the world.

cheers.


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## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

Lovely, very nice new photos from Piza


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## lezgotolondon (Aug 31, 2010)

christos-greece said:


> Lovely, very nice new photos from Piza


 Pisa. Unfortunately the city is not comestible.


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## Benonie (Dec 21, 2005)

lezgotolondon said:


> are we near the end of your trip in Pisa? I can see it was almost sunset when you took the last photos


Indeed! Almost the last pictures here. Meanwhile I'm preparing a new thread and some new trips. :cheers:


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## lezgotolondon (Aug 31, 2010)

Benonie said:


> Indeed! Almost the last pictures here. Meanwhile I'm preparing a new thread and some new trips. :cheers:


Great! Looking forward to it. Locations?


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## Benonie (Dec 21, 2005)

Next thread: Bangkok.

Next trips: York, Oslo and Bergen this summer. Manchester and Liverpool in winter. Istanbul next spring.


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## Benonie (Dec 21, 2005)




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## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

^^ Great, very nice updates


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## lezgotolondon (Aug 31, 2010)

gorgeous shots as usual benonie!

ending the thread with a bang!


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## Benonie (Dec 21, 2005)

Thank you for the support Lezgotolondon and Christos! :cheers1:

Almost finished...


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## Benonie (Dec 21, 2005)




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