While the day in Pisa was relaxing and fun, the trip there was definitely stressful. I woke early to try to publish my post from yesterday, but it still didn't work, so I left the hostel around 8:15am. That's when I noticed on my ticket that I actually have to arrive by 10:30am to skip the queue, otherwise, I lose my spot and have to line up. Not knowing how long the lineup may be, I was pressed for time when I found that the next train to leave was at 8:53am, arriving at 10:17am. With the walk to the monument requiring around 25 minutes, there was no way to make it in time.
Luckily, the 8:28am train was 25 minutes late and just arrived. When it sat there for another 7 minutes, I was ready to flip tables. We somehow made up a ton of time on the road, as we arrived at 9:55am, about 20 minutes ahead of my estimate for the arrival time. Everything else went smoothly after that.
I started by taking a few of the obligatory photos of me holding up the tower after I got my ticket, and before I know it, it was my turn to go up. You really feel the lean when you get near the top, so if you suffer from dizziness, don't go up. You'll be very disoriented when you leave. I also bought the ticket for the other 5 sites, consisting of the cathedral, the baptistry, the Camposanto, the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo and the Museo delle Sinopie.
Apart from the Leaning Tower and the typical Cathedral, there was a ton of cool stuff in the other buildings. For example, the baptistery had an echo effect that staff would demonstrate once every half hour. The sound resonated throughout the dome structure and the length of the note was prolonged without distortion.
The Camposanto has a hall of frescoes under restoration and had a great courtyard view. There was also a Chapel of Holy Relics inside would 2 shelves full of gold chalices and other relics.
The Museo delle Sinopie stored and displayed the original frescoes of the Camposanto which were heavily damaged, along with some clothing that was typical at the time. The clothing styles were also featured in the frescoes.
Finally, the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo explained the history of the Leaning Tower, the Cathedral, the Baptistery, and the Camposanto. Also displayed were some of the original sculptures, art and paintings from inside the Cathedral that were damaged by fire, Etruscan and Roman art, as well as prints of what the frescoes inside the Camposanto would have looked like if not for the heavy damage from WWII. I should also point out that the backyard of the museum faces the Leaning Tower, so I was able to get some tourist-free photos from there.
I left Pisa around 4:20, but didn't get back into Florence until around 6:20. Why? I accidentally took the slower train. Think of it as sort of an express bus versus a normal bus. No big deal though, it gave me some time to start writing and get a powernap. For dinner, I went to another recommended restaurant called Pizzeria Il Giardino Di Barbano, allegedly the best pizza in Florence. I had their special pizza, the Pizza o'Sole Mio, which has whole tomatoes. It didn't really have meat, but that's OK, as it tasted pretty special. I wouldn't go so far to say it's the best though. To drink, I had their house Chianti Classico. On my way home, I picked up a pretty cheap gelato in the berry flavour an a "tropical mix," which tasted like mango and peach. After posting this, I'm going to head out to Piazza Michaelangelo at night to get some pictures, which I will post tomorrow.
Enjoy the leaning tower pictures and watch out for more gallery and museum pictures tomorrow!
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