We were up early and on the road early (again), this time our destination was Florence, the birthplace of the Renaissance, and home of the Duomo and Michelangelo's David. We arrived in Florence in the early afternoon, and the weather did not look promising. We were supposed to have our group photo with Florence as our backdrop, but it looked like that was not going to happen. Hans told us that he would try to work things out so that we could have our group photo taken in front of the Eiffel Tower. That'd be pretty sweet. No promises, Hans warned. After all, this was Contiki, and they like to do things their way. |
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Reuben dropped us off next to the Arno river, and we headed into the heart of Florence. Our first stop was the Santa Croce Church, a church that includes both the cross and the Star of David on its façade (23). Then we were off to ANOTHER demonstration. This time it was for leather. I was not thrilled about this because I had no money to spend on leather items. *Sigh* We did learn about the leather making process, and the correct way to determine if something is real leather. Our demonstration girl (looked just like Keri Russell, but prettier) also pointed out several tricks salespeople will try to play on unsuspecting patrons to make them believe the item in question is real leather. |
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It was as if "Keri" had watched my transaction with the Africans in Venice when we haggled over the massive Louis Vuitton and Roberto Cavalli knock-off bags. Every example she gave that did not prove an item was leather was exactly what the African had done, including pointing out the smell and running a flame across the side of the bag. Another thing for sale that I had my eye on were the Nomination bracelets. Since I couldn't afford one (total cost of one would be over $200), I decided that I would at least use the Nomination theme as the navigation on this travelogue to illustrate where I had been. |
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Since I was not going to buy anything at the Contiki kickback demonstration store, Mikki and I headed for Piazza della Signoria, Florence's town square (4), which included the Palazzo Vecchio, or town hall (1), and a replica of Michelangelo's David (2). As is required with any oddly-posed famous artwork, Mikki and I took obligatory photos of each other standing like David (3). |
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While Mikki went off in search of Italian wine for her brother, I grabbed some food and wandered around a souvenir stand, trying to pick out some postcards (the only souvenir I knew I could afford. Man, running out of money early can really put a damper on your trip. Hans had scheduled a walking tour of Florence for anyone that was interested, and apparently the only people interested were me, Mikki, Kenny and Vicky. |
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We started our tour in Piazza della Signoria, where we learned about the Medicis, the family that ruled Florence during the Renaissance. We headed down the street toward the Arno river, which was kind of like Florence's version of the Hollywood Walk of Fame. All of Florence's geniuses had earned a statue (Michelangelo, Galileo, da Vinci, and Dante to name a few). Also along this street were several vendors trying to sell all sorts of posters and artwork. |
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The polizia would walk down this street every so often, and the vendors would scoop up their artwork just in time to avoid it being confiscated, and literally, as soon as the polizia had passed by, they put their artwork back on the street. Those guys didn't waste any time. Florence was yet another city that was overflowing with designer knock-off(6). I guess they wouldn't be there if the tourists didn't keep buying the purses in large quantities (ahem, Mikki). |
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Our next stop on our tour was the Ponte Vecchio bridge (5). Back in the day, this bridge was used exclusively as a fish market. It was also the only bridge that was spared when the Nazis invaded Florence. Nowadays the only thing sold on the Ponte Vecchio is jewelry (7). We passed the Battistero Dan Giovanni (8), another building I remembered studying in Art History. |
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Our tour ended inside the Duomo (technically named Santa Maria del Fiore, or Saint Mary of the Flower), (9), (10), where we discovered that we could climb to the top (only 463 steps) and see an amazing view of Florence for the reasonable price of €6 (12). We climbed and climbed (13), saw the dome from a much better angle (14) than on the floor (11). Almost there (15)... Finally we made it to the top, and without a moment to spare we took a quick lap to get the full 360° view (16), (17), (18), (19), (20) before racing back down to meet the group. |
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Since there were quite a few people in front of us, we couldn't exactly run down the 463 steps, so I did take in the amazing view of the dome from as close as we could possibly get (21), (22), before making it down to the ground and racing off to Piazza San Croce, our designated meeting place. By this time, the square was filled with art students sketching everything around them (23). I needed to use the restroom before we left, and so I went into a nearby gelato shop, used the facilities, then bought some gelato to enjoy on the way back. |
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It started pouring on our way back to the bus, so getting our picture taken overlooking Florence was not an option. Contiki insisted that we get the photo taken in Florence since they had a contract with a specific company there. The workaround solution was to have our picture taken at the Tuscan dinner, which was fine for 90% of us, but some people did not want to go to the Tuscan dinner, which was no where near Florence. I think in the end, everyone ended up staying for the dinner so it wasn't the end of the world. |
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I'm getting ahead of myself. We got back to the bus, which took us to our hotel, where we had about an hour and a half to shower and get ready for the Tuscan dinner, the one official "fancy" night on the tour. It's amazing how nicely everyone cleans up when they try. On a Contiki tour, you have to learn to be low maintenance and fast, so it was cool to see everyone dolled up and looking great, and many people were sporting new leather and jewelry purchases. |
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We made it to our Tuscan villa where several other Contiki and guided tours were entertained by Italian music, food, and dancing. Before we were served, we finally took our group photo (24), which wasn't as cool as if it had been overlooking Florence, but hey, at least we all looked really nice. Everyone (25), (26), (27), (28), even the Contiki employees (29), had a great time at the Tuscan dinner. |
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Kreena and Roshni the recent college grads (30), Kristen, Lisa and Yolandi from South Africa (31), Vicky, Mikki, and Anne, the Asian girls all dressed in black (32), and Monica and Michael (33). Free wine definitely encouraged everyone to have a good time (as demonstrated by Anne and Crissy) (34). After doing the Chicken Dance and other tame moves, it was time to get down and dirty at the Space Electronic Discoteque (yes, that was really its name). |
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The rest of the night was tons of fun for those of us who went to the club (at least twenty) (37). Those who didn't missed out, I think. The club could have been in Anycity, USA. I don't think a single person there was Italian...well maybe a few pervs that wanted to hit on vacationing girls from around the world. But we didn't care, we were having a blast. Bryan and Alana (38), Stephen and Bryan (39), Hans and myself (40), and Mikki, Narelle, Lynette, Alana, and myself (41) right before we caught a cab back to our hotel to crash. |
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| Day 13 • Wednesday, May 18, 2005 • Lake Como, Italy |
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The next morning we were up and on our way to Switzerland. Right before we crossed over the Swiss border, Hans told us to keep an eye out for Lake Como. Shortly before we got there, Hans told us to all get our cameras ready because it was really beautiful and we didn't want to miss it. Any minute now, he promised. Everyone leaned eagerly to the right side of the bus (42) waiting for this view (was it ever going to come?), cameras at the ready. |
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After three solid minutes of waiting (everyone growing restless), the spectacular view came (43) and went in less than ten seconds. That's the definition of a Contiki "see". If it says in the Contiki brochure, "See spectacular Lake Como on your way to Lucerne" all you get is a ten second blur. Kind of like the windmill in Holland. That's okay, I got a great shot, I didn't need to spend any additional time in Italy. I was ready for some Germanic cleanliness and hospitality again. Switzerland, here we come! |
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