Livorno and Florence

This morning we arrive in the port of Livorno - gateway to Florence. Considered the art and cultural center of Italy and by many the World! Her Michaelangelo, under the De Medici family created many of the masterpieces we have all heard about.

Today we booked a private tour of 13 of us to see all the important sites and get a little better explanation and history that you can in a group of 100 on a bus. We start out today at 8:00 AM alongside the Crystal Serenity. We are met by our coach and local tour manager for the 90 minute trip to Florence. Once in Florence we meet Ann - we are all surprised - and in the end extremely happy - with the petite woman who met us who looked and spoke like she just got of the plane from New England! Ann introduced herself and we learned that she was originally from Conn., but had been living in Florence for 42 years with her Italian husband! She was an excellent guide, personable leader and very well connected as we learned.

NOTE: Record heat was recorded today of 110 degrees!

We started off with a short walk through some of the plazas on our way to the Uffizi Galley, home to many of Michaelangelo's works, as well as Leonardo di Vinci and many others. We spent well over two hours with Ann learning about the history, politics and commerce of the area and the artists - it was all very interesting. We then headed to lunch in a local Florentine restaurant, well off the beaten path. We enjoyed local specialties and some local white wine. A few of the group are very disappointed the the statue of David is not on our tour! Ann gives us a wink and askes us to follow her! OK - We are GREAT followers! We simply walk up to the backdoor - Ann gives the guard a few Euros and we are in! Other on the ship later told us they waited in the heat for HOURS to spend a few minutes admiring the statue! :) And with Ann giving us the history and story behind the statue - it was truly magnificent!

The heat was starting to get the group as we got close to 6 hours touring and walking! We started to loose two at a time to local pubs, hotel lobbys and department stores. We decided we had all had enought and thanked Ann, said our goodbys and went out to take some pictures, do some shopping and cool down!

We met up with our coach at about 6:00 PM and returned to the ship by 7:15 PM - an 11 hour day! Boy were we glad to get back to the ship and get a shower! Tonight was also my birthday - so we had a private cocktail party and dinner with about 20 friends we had made - on deck at 7:30 PM! - No rest for the weary!