While you shouldn't judge the day by the weather it is perfectly acceptable to adjust the day based on what the weather gives you.
Our port for today was Livorno which is the gateway to Florence, Pisa and Lucca. From what I know about Livorno it was originally built centuries ago to become one of the great cities of Italy like Rome, Milan. Florence and Venice. Somewhere over time plans changed and it evolved into an industrial city. I'm sure from an economical standpoint it plays a vital role because of the large port but as far as tourism goes there isn't much to see.
So we went to sleep last night thinking we'd be spending the day the really cool small town of Lucca.
Lucca is a very charming walled city that we visited a few years ago. It's filled with what you find in small Italian towns; churches, shops, restaurants, pastry shops and of course gelato!
What we enjoyed the most on our previous visit to Lucca was walking the perimeter of the town on the wide path on top of the wall. It was a nice Sunday afternoon and it seemed like half the town was out enjoying a stroll.
When we woke up and headed out for the day we found a little ice had formed on the top deck around the pools and hot tubs. A fellow passenger said the temperature was a balmy 31 degrees with a "feels like" temperature of 20! Suddenly the walk on the wall didn't seem quiet so attractive so we made a quick change of plans and took the one hour fifteen minute train to Florence.
Even though we'd still be outside for the most part Florence would provide more opportunities to duck inside some of it's numerous churches and museums, if needed, plus the train ride was a little longer. We considered the train ride as part of the days events.
The trains in Italy are nice and run frequently. Today we were especially grateful for the frequency because we (along with a bunch of folks off the ship) got off at the wrong train station in Florence. No big deal. There was another train in fifteen minutes that was going to the right station just 5 minutes further down the track and we had another memory to add to the journey.
It wasn't our first visit to Florence, however it was the least crowded we'd ever seen this historic Tuscan city.
The temperature did warm up a bit, probably to about 45 degrees. Thankfully there was no wind so we spent most of the time outdoors although we did enjoy walking through the Santa Maria Del Fiore Catherdral which is commonly referred to as the Duomo. While it is certainly lesser known than St. Peter's in Rome the exterior is very impressive and the stained windows and the adjoining bell tower are certainly a sight to see.
Although we never planned on going in since we had seen him before we did walk by the Galleria Dell'Accedemia which has been home to Michelango's David since 1873.
During the busy time of the year getting in to see David requires waiting in a long line or an advance reservation. Today we could have walked right in by simply paying the 12.50 euro admission price. I'm not sure how he was holding up in the cold weather, he might have enjoyed a jacket and some ear muffs today. Good thing he's made of stone or there might have been some serious shrinkage on such a cold day!
