Topdeck Travel: Trail to the Alps - Part III (Milan, Pisa, and Florence)

Out of the Alps, we were on our way to Italy. One of the exciting parts about this trip was that each time we visited a new country, it was my first time in that country. Every few days, I would get to cross a new country off of the list, and of all the countries on the trip, Italy was the one I was most excited about.

Our first city to visit was Milan. We arrived in the late afternoon, and after check-in, we got a walking tour of the city. We started off at the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II shopping center and as we exited, the Cathedral was right there in front of us. It was a gorgeous site. Unfortunately, there were a lot of scammers in the square in front of it, so that was a little annoying. We then went over and caught a glimpse of the Sforza Castle. We topped off the evening with some excellent Italian food (pizza, of course).

The next day, we were on our own to explore the city. I went out with a group to the Cathedral. They were going to walk all the way up to the roof, but I wasn't in the mood to climb all those stairs, so I went out on my own. I took the subway to see the Castle Sforza in the daylight. It was a nice little walk. I then grabbed some lunch before meeting back with the team. That afternoon, we were on our way to Florence, but first, we had a quick stop in Pisa.

Pisa, although quick, was awesome. We arrived near sunset and got a great view of the leaning tower. I didn't realize it beforehand, but there's also a Cathedral at the site, and it was simply beautiful (at least on the outside - I didn't get the chance to go in).

Now to Florence, my favorite city in the whole trip. One of the unique things that surprised me was the lack of cars in the city center. They do a good job at not allowing them in. We actually had to walk a bit to get to our hotel from the bus.

In the morning, we got a formal walking tour of the city, including a demonstration at a leather shop. Our guide was excellent! The only downside is that we were in town on a Monday, so all of the major museums were closed (Thus, we didn't get to see the real David statue, just the fake one outside the museum).

Afterwards, I went with a bunch of the crowd to have pizza (yes, more pizza) at one of the local restaurants where apparently one of the cast members from Jersey Shore worked for a bit. With my belly full, it was time to explore the city. One of the other travelers and I went into one of the smaller museums. It was ok, although it was pretty cool to see Galileo's telescopes.

Next, on the recommendation from our driver, we hiked up to the viewpoint at Piazzale Michaelangelo. It was just fantastic - one of the best views on the whole trip! Next, we hiked down to two final stops: the Basilica of Santa Croce, where many famous people (Galileo, Machiavelli, Dante, and Michaelangelo) are buried, and the Florence Duomo. That night, we had a group dinner at one of the new food courts in the city.

In all, this was definitely one of the most interesting segments of the trip, as it had my least favorite stop (Milan) and most favorite (Florence) right next to each other.