La Torre Pisa

Pisa photos here:
http://www.facebook.com/album. php?aid=168082&id=613699523&l=a c84a07047

Got to Rome just after 9am and then 10am train to Pisa.
Lockers at Pisa station are out of order so lugged my backpack to the leaning tower, took some photos and now slowly making my way back to the station stopping for coffee, food and beer along the way.

Forgot that northern Italy food options were ...

... Tuscan landscape. I took a picture every day of the same scenery because every day it brought a smile to my face no matter how tired or irritated I felt. At the end of the olive trees sat an authentic Tuscan scene of a white house with red shingled roof and fence of cyprus trees. In the distance the town of Pienza could be made out seated atop the mountain top with one stone tower pointing off the top. Half the time I ran my rake through the branches ...

... ill once we made it to the station in Pisa. Not so fun.

Still, ok – we’re now in Pisa, right?, and so we should make the best of it. After getting a better map from the local tourist office, we walked from the Pisa train station to the Fiume Arno River (the same river that flows through Florence). During our walk, we saw this unique, teeny-tiny church named Santa Maria della Spina, which hung right on the edge of ...

partie tot ce matin pour faire les 4.5 heures de train entre milan et pise, nous avons traverser plusieurs petit tunel. le paysage de la toscanne est beaucoup moins plat que ce que nous avons vue du nord-est de l'italie.

une fois nos bagage depose a l'auberge, on est partie vers la fameuse tour de pise. effectivemnt, elle ...

Cinque Terre photos here:
http://www.facebook.com/album. php?aid=163678&id=613699523&l=b ae7645b89

Stayed at Affittacamere Patrizia Hostel in Rio Maggiore in Cinque Terre and wouldn't recommend it to anyone.
When we got to the Hostel it was just an office and no one was there. Our keys were stuck to the door with instructions on how to get to our dorm room. There was another set of keys there too so we could have taken those too and ...

... stood to the side, I could see it leaning from one direction to the other.

Going back down the stairs was even weirder than going up. It’s a very odd feeling to be going down stairs while you’re leaning backwards. It was hard to keep my balance. But then when I was leaning forward, it was a lot easier to go down.

After I exited the tower, I walked back to the train station and bought my first train ticket on the fly. This was the first ...

... but somehow we managed to get through check-in, security, and passport control and onto the plane in time.

As harrowing of an experience as Pisa was, it was still a lot of fun (plus it gave me some good stories to tell about the dangers of closing airports). I can now say I’ve seen the Leaning Tower in person, and I’ve eaten real Italian food, and slept there. For all intents and purposes, I’ve been there, and I feel comfortable marking it off my map :)

... is. It was just a perfect day to go. After the climb down of course, we had to do the pictures of us pushing, kicking, etc the tower. We went on the grass (which isn't allowed, but that's where you get the best pictures) and took a bunch of pictures. We then just got some lunch and went onto the train to Lucca, which was only 2.40 euro! I love trains in Italy. Continue to the next blog for Lucca!

... to go back to Florence, but Alina and I decided to go see more of Pisa, and then go to Livorno, as planned. We went and saw the old tower of the entrance to the city, a small park, and some ancient ruins. It was awesome. It started to drizzle a little, but stopped. We went back to the train station, and caught the 3:34 train to Livorno, it took about 20 minutes to get there. We then bought our ticket for home awhile ...

... if you have ever seen pictures or video of the Shewolf statue that is in Italy, I know there are supposed to be a few, but one of them is behind the tower. I was excited to find it. Pisa was a neat tourist place to stop. It was a higlight of my trip, I know I am so awful. I do like some touristy stuff. But if you want to take that picture and maybe buy some prada sunglasses, it's a must see in Italy.