January 17th---Our attempt at a day trip to Pisa!

So we decided that a trip to somewhere in Italy might be a fun way to pass our time on Sunday, so Pisa it was.  There is of course the leaning tower and that was all we needed in order to be motivated to go.  We went to the train station, not really sure what we were doing, but followed the instructions on the self-serve machine in order to buy tickets.  One way tickets to Pisa for an hour train ride was about 5 Euros--not too bad for a solitary trip without tour guides.


The three pics are of the group that went to Pisa.  Maura, Emily, Ryan, me, Michael, Kiera, Tall Ryan, Elizabeth, and Dina. 

We made it to Pisa and realized quickly that it look a lot like Florence.  The same Fiumo Arno (Arno River) that flows through Florence flows right through Pisa!  Fancy that.  So again they look very similar with the tiny sidewalks, rude citizens who push you off these small sidewalks, and closed stores lined on both sides because it was Sunday.  Also, Pisa was a lot more cloudy then Florence seemed.

**If you notice--the white building is actually only a sheet with a picture of a building behind it, simply because they are building it behind the sheet**





 We walked about a kilometer and half when the tower seemed to peer out from behind various buildings.

 My first thought was that it was not as big as I thought it would be.  And it didn't look like it leaned as much as I thought it should!  After many, many, many pictures of each of us trying to place our selves in the same exact spot as the other person so we could "push" or "hold up" the tower, we realized it was a lot easier if the person taking the picture did the moving and we could stand wherever:

  Not that fantastic, but good enough since we took so many!  None of us went into the tower because it cost 15 Euros and well, I am sure we could find other things to spend our money on.  I went to one of the street vendors and bought some postcards to remember my experience!  We found one postcard of the tower lit up at night and decided to stay and have dinner until nightfall--hoping it would light up like the post card.  Unfortunately, after dinner, when we walked outside it was not.  Oh well, the postcard is pretty!

After a long day we ventured back to the train station and took our hour long ride home to Florence and then walked the kilometer and half back to our apartments.  The day was quite the success!

The explanation of the Leaning Tower of Pisa