Hello from Cannes, France
Drafted: Friday afternoon– May 27, 2016 (seventh post of this travelogue)
Uploaded: Saturday afternoon – May, 28, 2016
We are “anchored” in the port of Cannes (see map below) link. I put the term “anchored” in quotes since I don’t think they actually drop the anchor. I suspect they use a GPS system combined with the bow and stern thrusters keep the ship in a stationary position.
{google_map}43.5477636 7.012937{/google_map}
To visit the city, the ship uses its tenders (life boats) to transport folks to shore. We chose not to go the town or take a tour. Instead we are having a relaxing day on the ship and catching up on some internet stuff.
Wednesday we were docked in Civitavecchia which is the port from which the Roam tours depart. We had chosen not to take a tour, since we had spent a week in Rome in 2008 and a one day tour was not worth the money (tours are well over $300).
Thursday we were docked in Livorno, Italy link (see map below):
{google_map}43.539653 10.2553066{/google_map}
We had a great shore tour, but one that just about killed us.
Our bus took us first to Florence which is a spectacular city link. Here is a quote (edited) from Wiki:
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 382,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1,520,000 in the metropolitan area.
Florence was a centre of medieval European trade and finance and one of the wealthiest cities of the time. It is considered the birthplace of the Renaissance, and has been called "the Athens of the Middle Ages". A turbulent political history includes periods of rule by the powerful Medici family, and numerous religious and republican revolutions.
It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1982. It has been ranked by Forbes as one of the most beautiful cities in the world.
Our first stop was the museum where the Michelangelo statue of David is housed. The statue has amazing detail and is very large (about 17 feet). I have included one photo.
From there we took a long walking tour of the historic center of town. I have included a few pictures that attempt to show the beauty of the structures.
We had lunch in the plaza and it was great. We again had Italian pizza and I had a beer (see photo).
We gathered after lunch and walked to the bus – more than half a mile I would guess.
Our last stop was the Leaning Tower of Pisa link. We debated on walking there (another half mile walk), but we could not miss the opportunity – and it was worth it. The Tower is a part of Cathedral Square which includes the Baptistery of St John, Pisa Cathedral, and the Leaning Tower of Pisa – all incredible structures. The tower was started in 1173 and completed in 1372. The structure is marble and is much more beautiful than shows in the pictures. Here is a quote from Wiki:
It is situated behind the Cathedral and is the third oldest structure in Pisa's Cathedral Square (Piazza del Duomo) after the Cathedral and the Baptistery. The tower's tilt began during construction, caused by an inadequate foundation on ground too soft on one side to properly support the structure's weight. The tilt increased in the decades before the structure was completed, and gradually increased until the structure was stabilized (and the tilt partially corrected) by efforts in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
We were amazed at how great the tilt was. We have all seen pictures of it, but to see it in real life really drove home the fact. I have included photos of each structure.
Baptistery-of-St-John
Pisa Cathedral
Leaning Tower of Pisa
Like our tour of Naples, our Fitbits got a pretty good workout For this tour mine registered over 10,000 steps
That is all for this post.