Day 16 - Nice to Florence

I thought a jackhammer was going off in my head when our 6.30am wakeup call blasted us out of a deep sleep. So it was the usual scramble to get ready and pack our bags. We didn’t have any porters at this hotel so we also had to get out bags down the bus, have breakfast, download photos etc and then we were on the bus ready to leave at 8.30am. We have got into a routine that allows Carly after breakfast to skype Rhys and we usually have time to skype someone else – Moops, the grandkids or Gary…today we skyped Gary so I could make sure he was keeping my spending money topped up in the designated account!

Our first stop for the day was at the Fragonard perfume factory where we managed to continue our program of spending. The perfumes were very nice and quite reasonably priced…no, they really were Gary, I promise!

 

We then hopped back on the bus and were shortly in Italy! The views continued to be spectacular as we travelled up the coast of the Italian Riviera. Patricia put a DVD about the Medici family of Florence to educate us a little before we arrive there this afternoon. It was a really good doco but Carly and I couldn’t keep our eyes open and had a quick cat nap of only about 20 minutes. When we woke up we both asked the other what had happened while we slept but unfortunately we both nodded off at exactly the same time. We will now never know why Cosimo Medici was banished for 5 years and had to re-conquer Florence!

 

We stopped for lunch at an Auto grill on the motorway – I love those places! I remember them from my trip years ago and had been looking forward to reacquainting with them…if only they could import one to the twin servos on the F3. It is sort of like a mini Sizzlers (without the cheesy toast) but much cheaper. CJ and I both had a selection of pasta and it was awesome. Carly reckons it was the best gnocchi she has ever had…ever! So after spending a bit under an hour there we were back on the road.

 

Our next stop was at the city of Pisa – we did the obligatory trick photos of us holding up the leaning tower, checked out the other buildings and monuments, and then went searching for a supermarket to stock up on snacks. We were pretty adventurous, asked for directions at the pharmacy, and eventually found PAM, a supermarket that fulfilled our needs perfectly.

 

It was getting dark when we left Pisa and our trip to Florence, although not too far, took ages as we hit a fair bit of traffic. It was almost 7.30pm when we arrived at the hotel – the most disorganised hotel we have encountered thus far. It was 8pm before we received our room keys and 8.30pm before we were sitting down for dinner at a nearby restaurant. The meal was nice but I must admit I preferred the pasta at the Auto Grill. By the time we got back to the hotel, showered, uploaded photos and such it was midnight before I got to bed…very tired!