The Art of Leisure in Florence

Oceania offers lots of great shore excursions.  Nowhere is that more apparent than in Livorno, the gateway to Tuscany, for which they had seven pages of intriguing offerings in our travel documents.

The obvious choice for most travelers would be something to do with Florence, the capital of Tuscany and one of the most beautiful as well as important cities in history.

During the Middle Ages, Florence became an economic powerhouse for trade, and its currency, the gold florin, became the standard for investment throughout Europe, much as the dollar became the world's de facto currency after World War II.  Money and politics frequently go together, and Florence's uberwealthy Medici Family became highly influential in Europe's royal courts.  Perhaps like Julie and me you enjoyed TV's French historical drama Reign, a royal coming-of-age story set in the Middle Ages that featured Catherine De Medici as an intriguing manipulator.


The Medicis were also important patrons of the arts, and it is in that field that Florence has retained its most monumental glory.


The Renaissance began in Florence, and many of Europe's great artists and inventors have flocked there to learn and create over the centuries.

Michelangelo, Botticelli and Leonardo da Vinci  were born in Florence (Vinci is not  a form of Venice, as I believed at one time, but rather a community of Florence), so perhaps creative types believe there must be something in the water.

It occurred to me as we rode our bus at the outset of our "Florence and Pisa On Your Own" tour that it might be nice to visit the Uffizi Museum.  Cruise lines and excursion companies like Viator offer a variety of tours featuring the Uffizi, and it certainly would be possible to spend an entire day appreciating art there.  We arrived to find very long lines (as expected) and decided not to wait or pay for a skip-the-line tour for an extra fifty Euro per person.

Outside of the Uffizi Gallery, the beautiful, expansive plaza called Piazza della Signoria has lots of wonderful sculpture on display without charge, including a copy of Michelangelo's David.

New artists display their paintings and crafts as they work on new projects, many of which are quite beautiful and arresting.

Julie said that on her two prior visits to Florence she thought it would be great to have some wine and lunch at one of the sidewalk cafes in that historic plaza but didn't.

Why not?  You only live once, at least in this incarnation.

We perused menus before settling into a reasonably priced choice among expensive cafes.  From our picture-perfect sidewalk table and chairs, we could enjoy amazing statues and beautiful architecture all around us as we sipped wine and once again savored a Margherita pizza, which seems to be our go-to lunch in non-McDonald's cafes of the Mediterranean.

It probably goes without saying that the architecture of the city is distinctive and gorgeous.

The surroundings brought to mind Dan Brown's excellent suspense novel set in Florence, Inferno, a highly entertaining sequel to Da Vinci Code.

Sometimes, Julie and I seem to take vacations on the run, not unlike Professor Robert Langdon, portrayed by Tom Hanks in the movies based on Brown's bestsellers --- though we've never had anyone chasing us with deadly weapons.  Every great vacation, however, should include time to simply unwind while soaking in the ambiance of the region.

On this port-intensive cruise, we appreciated the luxury of feeling unrushed, not feeling compelled to keep moving forward.

When the wine was gone and the check had been paid, our smiling waiter served us complimentary Limoncellos --- sweet homemade Italian liqueur made with lemons ---  that perfectly capped off a simple but delicious meal.

Over our leisurely lunch, we had noticed many tourists walking into what looked like a castle behind Michelangelo's David.

We strolled over to investigate what we learned was Palazzo Vecchio, a Romanesque palace that has stood for over 700 years and serves as Florence's town hall.

It was a sunny day, so gelato beckoned. We shared a large gelato milk shake as we walked slowly toward our meeting point, encountering more street artists among the beautiful buildings.

We would soon be off to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa, another must-see in the region.


It should come as no surprise to cruisers that many of our fellow guests had cruised to the same region before, because frequent cruisers tend to enjoy revisiting old favorites along the way, but as I mentioned previously, there certainly are plenty of alternative excursions from Livorno, including the opportunity to see the countryside found in Diane Lane's Under the Tuscan Sun, travel to the renowned coastal village of Cinque Terre or visit Andrea Bocelli's family winery and restaurant, possibly learning how your voice sounds on a CD recorded and produced in the great tenor's own studio.

Whatever you choose to do when you visit Tuscany, thoroughly enjoy it.