Today we left Rome:( We have loved exploring Rome, so much history and wonderful things to see and do. I could easily spend another week here. But as they say, all good things must come to an end and we must move on. So this morning we left our very indulgent hotel and headed for the train station. Our train to Pisa was on time and we only had a short wait until we could board. Sharon had already warned us that everyone just rushes on board to get the seats, even if you have seat numbers. We were booked for carriage 1, seats 75 & 76 so we thought let's see how we go. Sure enough we got to our seats and someone was already sitting in the, however they did move as soon as we mentioned they were our seats.
It was a 'Hogwarts' train, that is, we were in a booth of 6 and we had the window seats. I thought I would love to watch the scenery go by, especially as we went through the Tuscany countryside. Ha ha silly me! I forgot these were high speed trains! I started to feel nauseated once the speed got up, so gave up looking out the window and watched a couple of episodes of modern Family on my iPad. I had to be careful not to laugh out loud too much!
We arrived in Pisa at 1:20pm and decide to catch a taxi to our hotel as we had no idea how long it would take to walk. Our taxi driver spoke beautiful English and almost gave us a guided tour! He was very well informed about Australia, he even knew Tony Abbot had just been elected! He then informed us he actually wanted to migrate to Australia a few years ago but he was knocked back. He then told us about how Italy didn't have a strong 'no boats' policy and Italy was taking in up to 300 refuges every day! We had noticed the high volume of Indian and Sudan peddlers selling wares at every tourist spot. I had read that Italy's 18-34 years olds had an unemployment of 29% but the taxi driver claimed it was even higher and only going to get worse. He told us that the tourism in Pisa was dropping off and once that went, there was nothing left for the city.
We pulled up at our Hotel and I have to say the location was brilliant! About 150 mt from the leaning Tower of Pisa but the first thing we saw were heaps of Sudanese peddlers outside our hotel. I really felt sorry for our driver, he could see that Pisa we slowly losing its appeal to tourism. Once we got into our hotel and settled we went for a quick walk. It has been 27 years since I was last here but I noticed that there were LESS people here now. This was the complete opposite to everywhere else we had been where tourism had increased dramatically.
We had booked a walking tour so we met our guide and started our wander around Pisa. We learnt about the history of the baptistery, cathedral and of course the bell tower which became famous for its leaning. We wandered through a few piazzas (squares) but one in particular was memorable. It had a beautiful building in it called the Palazzo Carovana. It was originally built in 1562–1564 by Giorgio Vasari for the headquarters of the Knights of St. Stephen but is now know as the Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa as a public higher learning institution. I am loving the fact that we can walk on the streets here in Pisa without risking our lives! The pace is significantly slower than Rome. We then headed back to the Miricoli square where the tower is.
As we walked back towards the square you suddenly stumble across the tower and the cathedral. They just seem to suddenly appear. Having seen so many images of the Leaning Tower you expect it to lean, clue in the name, but it really does lean dramatically. As you walk towards it, it is impossible to stop talking photos.
The Campo dei Miricoli is not only home to the Leaning Tower but also the Cathedral (free to visit inside) and the Battistero which is stunning. It seems to be a perfect circle with every inch covered in detail. The Baptistry of St. John (Italian: Battistero di San Giovanni) is a religious building and started construction in 1152, in replacement of an older baptistry, and completed in 1363. It is the second building, in the chronological order, in the Piazza dei Miracoli, near the Duomo di Pisa cathedral and the famous Leaning Tower. Together these three building make a beautiful picture and I can't wait to finally share photos with you.
You can climb the tower again (it was closed between 1990-2001) so we thought we would do it. It is an amazing experience. As you climb the side that it is leaning on, it is relatively easy to climb as gravity almost pushes you up but as you curl around to the upside it is really difficult. However, it doesn't take long to reach the top and once there the views over the city are just breathtaking. Pisa is so much bigger than you expect and is flanked by high mountains around the west. We took lots of photos as it was a beautiful clear day. We then climbed down (much easier than going up). We wandered around the Piazza dei Miricoli for about another hour, just taking in the sights of the three main buildings. We then went off exploring again.
We ended back in the street where our hotel was and we had a perfect view of the tower and cathedral. We stopped for tea at a street side ristorante and watched the sun set over the tower. It was beautiful. Back in our room now, and we leave at 8:30 tomorrow for our day in Florence. Until then keep well xx
