18 June: Pisa - the Leaning Tower & two others

Pisa was the birth place of Galileo Galilei.

In the Duomo, Galileo was believed to have formulated his theory about the movement of a pendulum by watching the swinging of the incense lamp (not the present one) hanging from the ceiling of the nave.

The leaning tower of Pisa became famous due to its tilt caused by the softened soil on the ground it was built on. I guess, people are far more interested to come up with funny poses with the tower than learning about the place?

The three "musketeers" in Pisa:

Another interesting find - a unique clock at the row of old shop houses. 

18 June: Famous Residents in Florence

On top of the Cathedral, we can find the famous and influential residents of Florence in its golden era:

- 2nd from the right was Leonardo 

- 3rd from the left was Michelangelo

- He, who has America named after him:

- Galileo Galilei

18 June: Florence - a Snapshot

Here's the beautiful Ponte Vecchio bridge, one of the famous landmarks in the city:

Streets in Florence

18 June: Arty Florence

Where we can find real Peter... long long queue of admirers... before the gallery opens in the morning

Ok, here's the "fake" Peter standing at the entrance to the museum. This was where the original Peter stood before being moved indoor after 300 years of exposure to sun and rain. Two special features about Peter were pointed by the guide: Michelangelo had made its right hand and legs out of proportion. Reason to it was to make the statue stood out from far (as it was originally planned to be placed on top of a building).

Other pieces (that are original pieces) of sculptures:

It's common to find these on the streets:

Hm... wonder why this woman put up a frowny face for the artist to sketch?

18 June: Florence City

A more modern looking medieval city compared to others like Assisi and Siena though all went through similar history.

Significant buildings/ monuments include

1. The Door of Paradise at St John’s Baptistry with 10 panels that depict the 10 significant events in the Old Testament,

Take a closer look at those that I'm familiar with:
(a) Creation of Mankind: God with Adam and Eve

(b) Noah (lying at the left bottom corner) - after the flood... Indeed, the guide jokingly said that Noah was probably the first person who got drunk in this world :P

The creator of this door had cleverly got himself (and his pupil) to appear as door knobs of this famous door (BTW, we were told this was a replicate as the original one was moved indoor after the flood).

2. The elaborated facade of Cathedral of Santa Maria Del Flore with the 12 most influential people in Florence at the Renaissance period appeared at the top of the building. Second from the left was Michelangelo while third from the right is Leonardo. 

While the exterior was grand and impressive, the interior was plain and simple, a vast difference compared to most of the cathedrals (or equivalent) we saw earlier. One item that caught my attention is the 24-hour clock

18 June: Lunch in Florence

This was the "longest waiting" meal... In a burning afternoon.

For almost 45 minutes, we were served (non-stop) with freshly baked bread that were hot from oven... well, they tasted really good with olive oil and vinegar! However, this was not the 'main course'

Here's the main course I ordered, "Homemade potato gnocchi with salmon". While I had the fear that it might turn out to be mouthful of 'flour', the little cubes tasted very nice :) 

Far left was the restaurant, "Circus"