Originally, we had planned to bum around La Spezia in the morning and then head out to Pisa in the afternoon. However, we had been hearing over the past couple of days that there was not much more in Pisa than the tower. Also, it turns out La Spezia is pretty much a port and little else – not a good bumming around option.
Instead we groveled at the Shore Excursion desk and got the last two seats on a Florence/Pisa tour. It was an almost 11 hour tour, but was well worth it. It started out in Florence (a gorgeous city, BTW) and we had a full 2-hour walking tour of the historic center of town.
The time went by very quickly and we found ourselves eating lunch on a patio nestled into a hillside overlooking the heart of the city. The food was good, but the view was amazing. From there we hopped back on the bus and, with a very long ride, we headed for Pisa.
What we had heard was spot-on. There really isn’t much more to Pisa than the tower. The field where the tower sits had a church and some other very nice structures, but the tower is what everyone shows up for. The pedestrian street that runs up to the tower was lined with very “interesting” booths selling everything from leaning tower coffee mugs to t-shirts with Bart Simpson standing next to the tower saying “I didn’t do it.” Everything you could imagine was being sold. Most things were tower related, some not (we still don’t know how dreadlock wigs or fake Prada handbags are representative souvenirs of the tower).
Needless to say, we got some great pictures. However, there is a growing sense of frustration in that we have yet been able to upload much since getting on board.
