As if going to Luxembourg for 4 days wasn't enough, I left Viterbo with my friends yesterday for spring break! We are traveling within Italy this time, and our first stop was Pisa.
We knew that the train ride would be very long because we bought cheap tickets that required two layovers, one in Rome and one in Civitavecchia. But man, 5 hours is long! We kept ourselves busy, however, with our Italian crossword puzzles which we can turn in for extra credit.
By the time we arrived in Pisa, it was already dark outside. I think it was around 9 PM and we were looking for our Airbnb place. Navigating our way through a sketchy neighborhood full of dark alleys (like most Italian towns), we somehow got to our place safely. During our check-in, the Italian lady tried to speak to us in English, but we told her that Italian is perfectly fine with us. She was so surprised that a group of "Americans" could speak such good Italian. It seems like we get that a lot wherever we go around Italy!
This bed and breakfast place had a pretty garden area so we promised ourselves to make breakfast and eat it outside the next morning. And that is exactly what we did when we woke up. A group of us went out to buy groceries for breakfast, and we made ourselves sandwiches and cereal.
Now, what we have all been waiting for.... The Leaning Tower of Pisa!!
HOWEVER, I was rather disappointed, and so were my friends. It was insanely cool to see something that you see in textbooks in front of you - that's for sure. But there was not much to do there among thousands of tourists who were also taking the same tourist photo that you are trying to take. But I did it anyway. Really though, I rather enjoyed the random government buildings and bridges that I came across.
The weather was quite nice, so we ended up taking a mini-nap for 30 minutes or so on the lawn in front of the cathedral. And I must say, that was definitely the highlight of my Pisa experience :) Plus, the cathedral was SO much cooler than the tower itself, so don't miss out on that (if you ever find yourself in Pisa).
Next stop is Riomaggiore, one of the five towns in Cinque Terre! I heard that the sunsets are so fantastic, so get ready to see some amazing photos soon.