Pisa - San Gimignano - Florence - Ostia

We have had a very relaxing time in Pisa. Our B&B was somewhat rustic but comfortable and clean, and close to the beach and marina. It was nice to have a quiet couple of days. We visited the Leaning Tower, Baptistry and Cathedral at Pisa. We purchased a ticket to the top of the tower, some 273 steps, with the tower on a 5 degree lean and learnt some history of the tower, which is a cylinder with spiral steps going up and around the inner wall to the bells at the top.  The Baptistry at Pisa has someone sing every half hour to show off the acoustics of the building, well worth timing your visit to hear this. The doors are closed, and no one is able to enter while a soloist does a short piece. 

The weather is very hot at the moment and we are getting it; that you have a siesta in the afternoon and then everyone is out late dining or just strolling along the streets in the evening. We have enjoyed a quiet drink at the bars along the main sea front area, mostly locals out and about with a scattering of tourists. Very relaxing.

We headed to San Ginignamo the following day, which is only a short distance from Pisa to drive to this medieval walled town in Tuscany. The views from the wall are vast across the valleys, however a bit hazy today. Within the town walls there are galleries, cafés, shops and of course the towers and churches. Many people live within the town walls in the very old but charming buildings. After spending a couple of hours there and a bite of lunch we headed to a place outside of Florence that turned out to be a bit of a waste of time, not open to the public as advertised,  and I think hadn't been for some time by lack of signage and access. I should have researched that better. 

We arrived in Florence to a B&B again, and a temperture of 35 degrees, hopefully it's a bit cooler tomorrow for the sightseeing. 

Sightseeing in Florence was a return visit for me and a first for Jim. After taking train into the city and finding a tourist map we were set for the day. I decided not to see David, even though I was determined this morning as we traveled in to make an effort and join the queue, but it was too hot, and the queues were too long. However we did queue for the climb to the top of the Dome, and Jim also climbed the steps up the tower. We strolled along the Ponte Vecchio, and had an exorbitantly expensive drink at a bar, but we decided it was worth it as it had spray mist over the bar to allow us to cool down, very hot again.  We though about Abby & Todd getting engaged in Florence and that was exciting, (hey Abby, are you reading this!)

The following day we took the toll road for part of the drive, and then the scenic route via a couple of lakes to our destination of Ostia, near the airport from Rome, where we started this trip some 54 days ago. 

A funny old day really after all those days on tour and our final night in Ostia; flying to the UK on Monday for the next phase of the adventure. Europe has been a memorable experience, the more you see the more you realize that there is so much more that we would like to see...

We have travelled off the main beaten track at times, enjoyed some amazing sights and winging it with accommadation, but always finding a place to stay, albeit one night not until 10pm, thinking we may have to sleep in the car. We have enjoyed tenting with the great weather and have always been warm and comfortable. We have managed to overcome the language barriers and eaten food that we had no clue as to what we were ordering. A real box of chocolates. The GPS and the iPad have been invaluable, goodness knows how one travelled without technology! Jim has mastered the right hand side of the road, only going down one way streets twice in 10,000km, and has been honked at less than half a dozen times, not bad! We have however done a few unplanned scenic loops, missing the odd turn off. Any regrets, absolutely not. Anything we would do differently, probably not!

London here we come...