livorno, italy

the front of the duomo cathedral

main entrance and tower of duomo

inside the dome...catholic cathedrals are always so dark so the pictures didn't really turn out that well

on top of the dome overlooking florence

since we felt ill-prepared in nice, we decided to enlist the help of a few vietnemese couples who looked like they had done their research to get around the city. they told us to be ready to leave at 8 so we got up early and were ready to leave by 7:30. we finally left the boat at 9 and we soon realized that we were just as or more capable than they were...which was funny. when we got of the boat in livorno we caught a train to florence, which was about an hour and a half away by train.

we didn't have a ton of time in florence so we went to the duomo and decided to pay the money to climb 463 stairs to see the top of the dome. it was quite an exhilarating experience. the stairs were enclosed in this tiny hallway and they were steep and winding. along the way we had three stops, the first was at the base of the top of the dome, the second was farther up the inside of the dome, and the third was at the top of the dome but outside. we were able to get some neat panoramic shots of florence and see by bird's eye what we wouldn't be able to see up close. since we were in florence on a monday we weren't able to go to the academic museum because it was closed so we missed seeing michelangelo's david which i was kinda bummed about.

after the duomo and some pictures of the golden doors of the baptistry, we hopped back on the train for pisa. the leaning tower was very striking and almost beautiful and folks it really does lean. it's crazy to see.