Morning arrived in La Spezia and we once again headed off to the train station in much finer weather. A train ride of about 50 minutes saw us arrive in Pisa. We left our luggage in the train station luggage area for 3 euro per bag and headed to the nearby tourist office for a map.
We walked through the town, which I must say was a typical Italian town, to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Yes, it does lean and it is very impressive but also very commercial. The tower is actually the bell tower of a very beautiful and very large church set in beautiful lawns. That is what is extraordinary over here, even though it is autumn, the lawns are all beautiful and green. The church and surrounds are in a large square with a part of the city wall around it and along the wall are hundreds of stalls selling tacky souvenitrs to unsuspecting tourists. There are also illegal sellers who have a blanket on the ground displaying hands bags or trinkets and when the polic are coming they grab up the blanket with the goods in it and run like anything so they don't get caught. There are also the typical sellers with watches in a folder they carry around. Do you want to buy a Rollex?
Anyway after we had taken enough photos and avoided the guides and sellers we decided it was time for lunch. Just like in Lygon Street the men are on the footpath of the sidewalk cafes touting for your business. We gave in at one and had pizza and canneloni in Pisa, very nice but not true Italian pizza, they had thickened up the crust to suit the tourist taste.
After lunch we went back to the train station and made our way to Florence to meet up with our bus tour. The Florence is the largest and most modern and clean train station (apart from Monaco) that we have seen. It is huge. A man who offered me accommodation told me that our hotel was too far away to walk so we sent Andrew to research the bus system. We had to catch a 29 or 30 bus and the bus stop was over the other side of the station. Easier said than done with road works everywhere behind the station and the tourist information lady telling us it is on the corner near a bar. Do you know how many bars there are on corners? Eventually we found the bus stop, more by chance than anything else and jumped aboard the crowded vehicle bags and all.
A long trip out to the burbs and we finally arrived at our hotel an Ibis to Gerards dismay but clean and kind of comfortable. There was nothing around and all we could find was a huge commercial store like Cash and Carry which wouldn,t let us buy anything and a cafe right on closing time with a grumpy waitress and an obliging manager who made a a lovely tea and coffee. They locked us in, but also let us out.
That night we ate at the Hotel with a lovely couple from Brisbane who have been touring for a while. He was a pharmacist with his own business, retired and living on Bribie Island. Its amazing that everywhere we go we meet other Aussies. Are you sure you are all still back there?
