Pisa

Rachael and I were not expecting much in the way of a sight seeing adventure and planned the trip to Pisa as just a short break on our way to Florence. After having seen so many pictures of the leaning tower we were pretty sure of what it would look like but felt that since our train passed through the town we might as well stop and have a look. Our dull spirits were immediately lifted when stepped through the gate and entered the Campo di Miracoli (field of miracles). In the center of a huge lawn were the three beautiful marble structures of the baptistery, the cathedral, and the leaning tower itself. We found a spot in the grass with a view of the whole scene. The weather was perfect and despite the large number of tourists there was still plenty of room to spread out. After lunch we took a walk around the tower making sure to document our trip with the official leaning tower picture pose. On our way back to the station we passed by some of the most incredible souvenir shopping I have ever seen. Everything there was touristy, tacky, and hilarious. When I saw the leaning coffee mugs I had to break out my wallet and despite having only stayed for little more than an hour I think I bought more souvenirs here than anywhere else. When we left we were happy to be on our way to the beautiful city of Florence but still had smiles on our faces from the carnival type atmosphere surrounding the leaning tower.