Landing at Livorno and on our own in Florence

Sunday morning 19th July we docked in much calmer seas at Livorno, the port for Florence. We opted for the "Florence on your own" tour which just dropped us off and picked us up 6 hours later. The drive took about 1.5 hours. We started off at the Duomo, (the main church and piazza) then headed down to the Piazza de la Repubblica...the main square then beat it back up to make our entrance time in our reserved tickets for the Accademia and the statue of David. Unfortunately no pictures are allowed so Greg only got two. We circled David several times in awe at the ability of Michelangelo to create such beauty, grace and power out of stone, then we left out of their to head to the Perfumeria Santa Maria Novella, my favorite spot in town. This apothocary and perfume shop has been in existence since those clever Franciscan monks started making pot-pourri and elixars in the early 1300's. It is a beautiful series of rooms to see even if you don't buy anything...but some of us did buy (and buy and buy). Greg bought some gifts (my lips are sealed in this blog) and of course I bought too, having most of it shipped. We then started walking back up to the square but stopped for lunch at a little trattoria, very lovely. Katy had gnocci in pesto sauce that was perfectly done, al dente (not gummy) with a cream pesto sauce. We started with melon and proscutto (Katy's new favorite food item) then Greg and I shared an enormous thick t-bone steak cooked in the style of Florence-grilled with a little zuccini and a little tomato. It was delicious, of course...this is Italy! Then back to the meeting place and back on the bus to the ship.