Rome is always beautiful (part two). Ljubljana. Bled. Kozin. Florence. Pisa.
The tour of Rome is always great.
Part 1. All roads lead to Rome (continued).
Budapest - Balaton - Ljubljana - Bled - Kozina
We will have breakfast in the hospitable "Arena", we will leave Budapest admiring once again the majestic Danube. Leaving aside Szekesfehervar, the birthplace of the famous Ikarus buses (as it turned out, trolleybuses), the windows on the right side soon flashed beautiful landscapes of Lake Balaton with many resort towns stretching along it. We entered the territory of Slovenia. The highway serpentine went through beautiful mountain landscapes. About two o'clock in the afternoon we were in the capital of Slovenia. Immediately on an hour walking sightseeing tour (Istok guide) around Ljubljana. The city is clean, sedate, divided by a small river Ljubljanica, we were not impressed, maybe the Istok did not fully present it to us.
We buy souvenirs, white Slovenian wine, we have time to buy national puffs with various fillings to refresh ourselves on the road, we ran into the local pharmacy for medicine for our daughter and left the town, leaving part of the group to get to know Ljubljana more fully.
Our path lies to the north of the country towards Austria, where, at the very foot of the Alps, there is the pearl of Slovenia, Lake Bled, with the fortress of the same name - a town. We saw the Alps for the first time, they fascinated us. The bus puffing climbed as much as it could along the serpentine to a steep mountain, "dismounting" our group climbs to the top of the mountain on which the Bled fortress is located (Istok warns all Russian speakers not to confuse the letters). We are in time for the very height of the theatrical show - a fully armed jousting tournament, national medieval costumes, dances and, of course, a wedding ceremony.
From the observation decks of the fortress there are magnificent views of the Alps, the mountain lake Bled with an island in the middle and all the surroundings. Having made multiple photo-video shootings, we go down to the bus. We go around the lake, we pass the railway. station, near which there is an excellent access to the lake for swimming, equipped with changing cabins. We land on the opposite shore of the lake (opposite the fortress) at the pier of the boat crossing. We go by boat to the island, go up the steps to the chapel of the Assumption, ring the bells making wishes, buy souvenirs in the shop, admire the beauty of the mountain lake.
We are moving to the "mainland", there is an hour of free time. The group went to a nearby restaurant to order "dishes".
We cannot exchange the beauty of the lake for a plate of local cuisine, we change clothes in the restrooms of the restaurant and leave things on the lawn - into the lake along a specially equipped descent along with several like-minded people. The purest crystal clear water (only here you understand the meaning of these words), unforgettable swimming with fearless lake trout and almost tame swans. We take great pictures. The impressions are so overwhelming that we decide to definitely come back here, believe me, our impressions will be shared by all the tourists who have been here. Forty minutes of swimming, we change clothes “the same way” and eat Ljubljana puffs, washing down with drinks purchased at the bar near the restaurant.
We leave for Ljubljana, pick up part of the group "abandoned" in Ljubljana. At about nine in the evening we leave towards the Italian border.
Around midnight, we check into the beautiful Admiral Hotel, a few dozen kilometers from the Slovenian Adriatic coast.
Kozina - Padua - Ferrara - Bologna - Florence - Pisa
A hearty breakfast in a hospitable hotel, we leave and in half an hour we are in Italy. Under interesting videos, selected by our accompanying Vladimir, beautiful landscapes outside the window, the road is not a burden, having passed Bologna, we jumped over the pass of the Tuscan Apennines and soon arrived in Florence.
Leaving the bus in the parking lot with the guide Tamara for a sightseeing tour. There are a lot of tourists in Florence, so the tour is only with an audio guide.
The tour was crumpled, and is it really possible to see Florence in one hour - Santa Croce, the Cathedral of the Holy Cross, Santa Maria del Fiore, the Baptistery - with its bronze gates on Piazza del Duomo At the Porcellino Fountain, which is located next to the Central Market made wishes. You need to put a coin on the tongue of the boar, if it slipped and fell without stopping on the drainage grate - the wish made will come true immediately, if it remains on the grate, it will come true someday anyway. By the way, the water in the fountain is delicious, maybe because it’s hot, it’s August after all. The tour ended at Piazza della Signoria. In this square, magnificent statues by Michelangelo - David, "Judith with the head of Holofernes" by Donatello, "Perseus with the head of Medusa" by Benvenuto Cellini and the fountain of Neptune by Bartolomeo Ammanati.
Free time for about an hour, we walked again through the historical center of the city.
Time passed unnoticed when they came to their senses - there were 20 minutes left before the bus left for Pisa. Running to the bus, near the Ponte Vecchio bridge, they "crashed" into the merchant Pinocchio, they decided to buy a puppet. They thanked the frightened merchant, but he said that he was already used to the fleeing Russian tourists. They were on time at the bus stop, they also waited for it for 15 minutes, drank water, washed themselves near the drinking fountain. Now we are ready to meet with Pisa - to the aid of the falling tower!
The 90-kilometer road to Pisa runs across the plain along sliced Italian haciendas. Only potatoes are not grown here, the business is done on seedlings, whoever is in what much - roses, fruit trees, palm trees, Christmas trees or just corn. Vineyards appeared closer to Pisa. Thanks to the “fast driving of our drivers”, the road was overcome in two hours.
In Pisa, guide Antonina, a girl from Zaporozhye. The tour was excellent, but did not calculate it for our forty-minute stay.
The complex in Pisa is beautiful. We will definitely visit here again. You need at least half a day for sightseeing. We leave the tour and take multiple photos. Lighting in the afternoon is not in favor of good photos, but we find great angles. Of course, I wanted to climb the tower, figure out why it was falling, but there was sorely lacking time. We knew that there would be little time in Pisa, but not that much. Nevertheless, we don’t regret a bit that we abandoned Florence (you won’t consider it during this time either). We gather in a group at the exit from the complex.
We are distracted by the purchase of souvenirs, well, it is impossible to resist. The merchants are mostly blacks. They sell "branded" Italian bags, laughter, laughter, but the quality is not bad. The price is 45 euros, 5 euros are dropped for each step away from the merchant. The last price is 15 - why didn't you buy it? Having bought souvenirs, we find that we have lagged behind the group. We are literally running!
Moreover, intuitively, they did not take the navigator with them. Lost. The area on which the bus stood was circled with a big “hook”, finally finishing off the legs. We call our accompanying Vladimir and we are. Got off lightly...
The female part of the group caustically noted our seven-minute delay to departure, but did not note the 30-minute wandering of our drivers around Florence in search of the rest of our group.
At nine o'clock in the evening we leave Florence in full force and at about two in the morning we arrive in the capital of Italy.
