Pisa was such a fun day trip! Really the only thing to see in Pisa is… the Leaning Tower of Pisa. So that makes the day trip pretty short and sweet. We took a 1.5-hour train ride from Florence and spent about 3 hours walking around the town and enjoying the “Field of Miracles” where the Leaning Tower is located.
As soon as we walked out of the train station, we saw a gathering of tents where various Italian specialties were being sold. My mom went ga-ga over an entire booth dedicated to licorice. Meanwhile, check out that pig’s head with an apple in his mouth in the photo above! Everything was so tantalizing that we returned for lunch later that day.
And there’s the Leaning Tower of Pisa!
Obligatory touristy shot and Lena with her beloved balloon that we found in a bush.
Like I said, Lena really loved that balloon.
Gil made friends with the Leaning Man of Pisa (maybe?), and Em and I bought new “Ray Ban” shades for 5 euro each on the street. (So if you see me wearing them, don’t be too impressed.)
On the train ride home, there was some excitement: our train went through a tunnel and our train car went pitch black for about 5 seconds. As soon as the train was out of the tunnel, my dad jumped up, flung open the train car’s door, and went running down the length of the train. What?!
But he’d seen immediately that my mom’s purse had disappeared while the train was in the tunnel! He stopped a man along the way and we later found my mom’s purse near where the man had been standing. We assume the man dropped it as soon as my dad jumped up. Quick thinking from everyone!
Sadly, this didn’t prevent me from making a stupid error later that evening… and my phone and camera bag were stolen from right under my nose when I set my bag down to take some pictures. Such a loss! We made it through 2.5 years in Italy (infamous for pick-pocketers) without anything being stolen, and then that happened.
Incidentally, my new phone (you can read why I got a new one here) arrived yesterday. I have been doing a lot of thinking during my three-week break from my phone, and I have some ideas about how I’d like to use my phone better in the future. I’m working on a blog post about it… coming soon!
What’s the worst thing you ever had stolen from you?
Love the “obligatory” touristy pic! Isn’t it funny to see everyone standing around doing the same thing?! We, of course, felt obliged to take some with our crew…and I’m glad we did! As for pick pocketers, they’ve gotten us 3 times…3 wallets and our camera! I’m going to blame it partially on the kids since we’re always so distracted, but seriously…we should have learned our lesson the first time!
Ugh, I remember when the last pick pocketing happened and you lost your camera! I would have much preferred to lose my camera… it’s due for a seriously upgrade! ;-)