Where are we

We woke up early, had breakfast in the hotel, and went out for a stroll. Today was the day that a street market was being held near our hotel. Vendors were selling household items like table cloths and kitchen utensils, clothes, and bags, and belts. Jadine bought a skirt and a couple of belts before we went back to our hotel and checked out. Our first stop on our journey to Florence was the port city, La Spezia. We arrived in La Spezia around 12:30 to find that not much of the bay could be seen (hidden by walls surrounding cranes and other industrial warehousing). We found a parking spot in front of a deli-like place and headed out looking for a nice lunch spot. After at least a mile of walking and not finding anything that looked good, we had returned to the deli place in front of our car which was obviously a local favorite as people were coming and going frequently. We ordered lasagna, pepperoni (roasted peppers), and something called Arancini di Riso. This Arancini di Riso was the best thing I've tasted on the trip so far. I found out from talking (more like piecing together words as she spoke Italian) to the cook at this deli that the Arancini is Sicilian and she is from Sicily. Ooh, I think I know where our next travel destination will be. :) After lunch, we hopped back on the autostrada and drove to the exit as google had said. However, after driving several kilometers it was obvious that we had taken the wrong exit. All was not lost as the road we were on had signs pointing us the right direction. We got to pisa just after 3. We found a free parking spot near the main piazza. I couldn't make out the signage well so I figured to be safe we better only stay half an hour which turned out to be a little rushed. The tower is impressive and worth seeing. It's very crowded in the piazza as everyone is snapping pictures. Even though it is possible to go up the tower, they only let in 30 people at a time and the next available time was 5:20. Also the cost was 15euro per person. After getting our own pictures and hitting the restroom, we got back on the road heading for Pontederra, home to the makers of the best chocolate in the world, Amedei. We got off the SGC (strada) at the Pontederra exit and got lost. We made it to the city center and asked someone on the street how to get to the factory. She knew the chocolate and told us the way. We made it to the factory just before 5 to find the place closed to the public. Bummer. We went back to town and asked a café store worker where you could buy the chocolate however one of the customers helped us. After a very long conversation and involving other café drinkers we found out the chocolate seller was where we were originally -- in the town center. It was getting late, around 6 by the time we got to Corso Matteotti in the town center. At this point we had invested too much time to turn back. We found the chocolates in a little shop selling candy and coffee. The owner of the shop (I think his name is Fabrizzio) was really cool. His buddies from neighboring shops came over to see what the commotion was and to help us out with buying our chocolate. After half an hour we had our chocolates and a recommendation for a nice restaurant from our new shop owner friends. We had pasta arriabata (a linguine like pasta with tomatoes and spices) and a pizza boscaiola (which had ham and mushrooms) and a mixed fish grill (which we got portare via -- to go). By now it was about 8:30 and we still had an hour drive to go. After a long tour around the city center of Pontederra and a wrong turn down a one way street and a nice stranger saving us from getting a ticket, we made it back onto the SGC. About 7 km outside Florence, traffic came to a halt. Apparently there was an accident and the ambulance had blocked the road. People were getting out of their cars and even backing up to take the previous exit. We stayed there for about 45 minutes before the police came and got traffic moving again. Once we were in florence we got lost, completely. Florence is a maze of one way streets and dead ends. After about an hour, we finally found the roads that google had given us. We finally checked in around 11:30. The hotel is really nice. It's been a long day and tomorrow is our final day of driving.