Leaning tower of pisa | bellasabroad

We hesitatingly left Cinque Terre, but onward to the next adventure we went, armed with the most delicious foccacia and pesto in the world!
First stop- Pisa!

Pisa Centrale

We arrived at Pisa Centrale at 11am, checked in our bags at luggage storage, and headed out to find the tower, which we were told was about a 30+ minute walk from the station.

Oh my, as we are walking I am seeing stores- stores to which I like to shop in like Motivi, Calzedonia, Tezenis, and more! You must remember that I have NOT shopped yet, and I LOVE to shop, especially in Italy! So luckily the boys reluctantly agreed to stop long enough for Kalyna and I to take a quick look in a few stores, and while we looked we also cooled down in the yummy air conditioned stores. We didn’t buy anything, with the knowledge that we will be passing along these stores again on our way back to the train station- yes!

As we walk to the Field of Miracles, we cross a bridge, called Ponte di Mezzo, and along with the shops we came across, Pisa is starting to remind me a bit of Florence , my favourite city in Italy but with wider streets . As we get closer, there are remnants of Roman ruins, and then we can see it- The Leaning Tower of Pisa. I am thrilled to be able to see this structure that needs no caption next to it for most. My first impression is that it is much smaller than I thought it would be. It is 8 stories tall and is definitely leaning.

The Leaning Tower of Pisa

We arrive at the tower, and immediately retreat to the shade to look at it. This heat is Crazy! While Kim and Jordan stay in the shade, Noah becomes our photographer, and captures Kalyna and I doing what every other tourist is doing, and has done in the past- takes a picture of trying to hold up the leaning tower. Yes we know how corny we are- part of the experience!

Strong Kalyna!

Had to do it!

The field of Miracles, or Miracoli in Italian, you can see the Leaning Tower (the bell tower), the cathedral (Duomo), the Baptistery, the hospital (Museum of the Sinopias), and the Camposanto Cemetary, all of which you need an admission ticket to enter. We knew that you could climb to the top of the tower for E15, which we decided we did not want to do in the 40 degree heat. As we tried to enter into the Duomo, we discovered the need for a ticket, but when we saw we had to go WAY over THERE to buy the E5 ticket, so we simply looked from the outside in places with shade, or just quickly took pictures as we passed looking for shade.

The Field of Miracles

: Duomo

Lots of vendors along the field of miracles

: Ticket office and vendors

It was hot, and we were done seeing the sights, so we decided to make our way back towards the train station to sit and eat and have some nice Cold drinks. But instead of going the way we came, a brilliant idea was presented to go a different way. After walking for too long in the heat along a busy street with nothing to look at but traffic, I became very irritated. I thought it was a plot to keep me away from my loved stores on the street that took us to the tower. UGH. We finally made it back to the street I wanted to be on in the first place, and found a small restaurant so that we could eat and drink, and cool off as much as you can without a.c. Then before we knew it, it was time to head back to the train station to collect our bags, and catch our train to Siena.

Next stop on our journey is Tuscany!