Arno (Fiume Arno, in Italian), with a winding length of 150 miles, is the largest river in the Tuscany area of Italy.  From its origin in Mount Falterona, it initially runs southward and then turns to the west near Arezzo (one of the locations where Under the Tuscan Sun and A Beautiful Life were filmed.  More on Arezzo later), passing through Florence, Empoli and Pisa before eventually flowing into the Tyrrhenian Sea at Marina di Pisa.  So, yes, the Christmas-like image from Pisa was made by the bank of River Arno as well.

Florence was such a "mad house", not only because we'd run into either a museum or a historical landmark, or both, every step of the way, we'd be swimming in/with/against streams of tourists.  By day 3, we were hungry for air and were looking forward to a visit to the medieval streets in the Santo Spirito neighborhood of Oltrarno (literally means Beyond the Arno, located south of Arno).  

Our nice hotel manager offered to take us there on his break.  The words such as narrow, winding, pedestrian-only appealed to me.  Knowing how an easy one-hour walk can turn into a whole-day exploration, we gently turn-down the offer (he's too nice to lose a job over a client like us :-)) and went on our own.  But, but, no one warned us about this - it's a jungle out there,  watch where you turn your head to, or you may very well be faced with this: 

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