The cathedral is a fine building, in the same style of architecture as that at Sienna, and, like it, is built of black and white marble. The celebrated _Campanella_, or belfry, is a lofty square tower, detached from the church, and built in a fine and light style; when I was there it was closed, and I had not time to repeat my visit, so that I did not see the interior. One evening I went to the Pergola, a very fine and large theatre: it is extremely simple and elegant, the ground-colour being shining white, relieved by light gilt ornaments, and the opera and ballet were in a style of corresponding elegance. I went once to see the house of Dante, now called the Palazzo Dante, and the residence of the French Ambassador. Near it is also the dwelling place of the two Guicciardini. _9th._ We quitted Florence this morning for Genoa, and drove on to Pistoja in two hours and a half. The road runs through a long continued row of villages and villas, linked together by the graceful festoons of the green vine. The plain is covered with Italian vineyards, in which the vines are trained from tree to tree, very different from those of Germany. The villages are full of roses; and the nearer hills are spotted with white houses, rising among the green trees, and beyond them appears a chain of loftier snow-tipped mountains. The inhabitants of the villages were all sitting in the sun before their doors, chiefly employed in plaiting straw for the Leghorn hats. The drive from Pistoja to Lucca is most beautiful; the land is in high cultivation, and appears to be very rich. The mountains became grander, more rugged and bolder, as we approached the Lucchese territory, which we entered about eight miles from Lucca. The ramparts surrounding the town are all planted with lofty trees, which perfectly conceal the houses beyond them, so that, with the exception of one or two towers, no part of the town is visible from without the walls. The streets are old, narrow, and dirty, and the cathedral is an awkward building, the front of which is formed of rows of small arches, one above another, surmounted by a gigantic uncouth white angel, in whose head was stuck a great dry bush.