Pisa, Italy

Pisa was the unexpected detour on our trip. We were supposed to go to Florence, but right after we arrived at the train station, the train operators decided to go on strike. I hear this is a common thing in Italy so we just decided to go with the flow and see the leaning tower instead.


 


The tower is located in the Piazza Dei Miracoli, which basically consists of the tower, a cathedral, and a baptistry. The piazza is surrounded by peddlers trying to sell a lot of touristy merchandise.
We checked out the tower first. We opted not to go to the top because the top levels don't actually have any railings and I am deathly afraid of heights. So we decided to admire it from below and take the classic photos of us holding the tower up. I'm sure we looked like cheesy tourists, but we had a lot of fun doing it.







Next we went into the cathedral which has a lot of beautiful stained glass windows and intricate stone carvings depicting scenes from the New Testament. Next to the cathedral is the Campo Santo, which is an old cemetery building that also houses a lot of medieval art. We were especially impressed by a carved stone bathtub, which was later used as a crypt, and a baby's tomb that had a haunting depiction of a skull and crossbones.


On our way out, we stopped to have some gelato and buy a couple of souvenirs. All in all, I would have to say that Pisa was our least favorite stop on the trip. It was definitely impressive, but very touristy. Maybe if we had ventured away from the Piazza into the city, we would have experienced a little more culture. Next time, hopefully we'll make it to Florence.