The lovely port of Livorno, Italy

An old entrance through the wall that surrounds Lucca Italy.  I really liked Lucca.  The "city of 100 churches".

The view from on top of the wall.

Our bus tour walking down from the wall and into the city.

Typical view looking down the street.  Thank goodness cars are not allowed in Lucca.  (Just a slight few exceptions)

Another view.  

I believe this was St Michael's church.  

Another view.  Note how all the columns are different.

A close-up of the columns.

There are a TON of churches in Lucca.

And yet another.  This one, as I recall is 12th century.

The house of a well-to-do family.  Large with a very large garden/courtyard to the right.

The Old Roman Ampetheater was used for housing.  Now it's a circular plaza lined with the ring of houses built atop the theater.

Day 2 in Italy.  We're in Pisa.  This is the Baptistery, the Cathedral, and the leaning tower.

A close-up of the Baptistery.

And the Cathedral.

And The Leaning Tower of Pisa.  I didn't realize until visiting that the leaning tower of Pisa is the Bell tower for the church above.  As you can see in the other shots, the bell towers are often standalone.

A description of the repairs they made to correct the lean back to the proper lean.  It was going to fall over in just a few more years if not corrected.

A shot with Patty in it.  The typical tourist shot.  (The: Yes were there shot)

The white in the mountains is not snow.  It is white marble.   This is where the marble came from to build all the churches and monuments in this area.

Florence, Italy.

Santa Maria del Fiore church.

Another view including the bell tower.

The ceiling of the dome of Santa Maria del Fiore.  This painted ceiling is actually many times larger than the one Michelangelo painted in the Sistine chapel.  It was done in sections.

Florence's "arch".

Palazzo Vecchio

A closer shot of Palazzo Vecchio.

Ponte Vecchio.  This bridge spans the river Arno through Florence and has numerous jewelry shops on each side.  It was last built in 1345.  It was originally built in 972 but destroyed in 1117 by a flood.  It was devistated by fire in 1332 and collapsed again in 1333.

Looking at the river Arno from atop the Ponte Vecchio.

We depart Florence after a looooooong day of walking.