Lean baby Lean..

The previous post on the Europe trip series is here...

Day 3 of the Europe trip was visiting Pisa. Now Pisa is neither here nor there on the big city list. So we did not want to stay overnight in Pisa. 

The plan was to take the first available train to Pisa from Rome (which is via Florence with a 10 minute window to change trains) and leave the luggage in the cloak room at Pisa station. Now you know why each of us was allowed only one check in bag and a backpack. 

We dragged the check in bags from train to train and from train to baggage room. My suitcase handle broke. I had to improvise and used Jr's bandana as the handle and dragged the suitcase along. We were on a tight schedule. Once we paid and gave the luggage in (6 euros per bag), we had to go to the leaning tower by 11:45 and that meant 45 mintues to walk there.

It took us almost 35 minutes to walk and we did stop for 5 minutes to get some ice cream for the kids. They were tired. We did stop for a few seconds every now and then to take pics on the way..

If you are going up the tower, you have to book it well in advance. They have a limit on how many people can go up and down the tower and you have time slots. We reached at 11:45 and found out that no backpacks allowed (even a camera backpack). So we walked across the field to a locker and put the handbags/ camera bag there. When we walked back to the line, it was our turn. 

It is a narrow walkway with pretty much one person at a time except for few niches where you could let someone pass through. We climbed up and got beautiful views of Pisa and the Cathedral. 

After coming back down we went to the cathedral. The tickets were included with the tower. So we didn't have to stand in that line. We strongly recommend buying tickets well in advance for this or you cannot cover the cathedral and get back to train station if you try to do Pisa as a half day stop. Remember the Florence to Pisa train is a local train that is not fast and most trains to other important places are from Florence. 

This cathedral was beautiful. Amazing ceiling, altar, paintings on the walls. We spent 30 minutes walking to the sanctum and back.

From the top of the tower, realized that we had taken a longer route to come to the tower. So on the way back I suggested a shortcut. The family came along reluctantly. Then I made one mistake. That almost proved costly as it took us to a city center courtyard. Once we figured it out we were off by one block. Luckily I asked for directions and we were back on track. I got yelled at for the next 15 minutes by all three for losing the 5 minutes. We ate lunch at a quiet restaurant. The service was excellent as was the food. For a guy who eats cheese sticks at Denny's, cheese balls were a novelty. Had that for the first time in Pisa. 

Here are two slideshows with pictures..

and a Pano slide show. The Panoramic views at Pisa were amazing!

We made it back to the train station and waited for our luggage to be handed out. The cloak room is all the way in the back of the platform. So yet again we barely made it to our train to Florence and then to Venice.. I was already limping by then with the hardened skin in my foot hurting me every time the foot touched the ground.

The video highlights of the trip.. including a time lapse of my entire walk down from the top of the tower.. 

So it was a relief to sit on the train and catch our breath!

To be continued..