Falling Towers and the Renaissance

Today we are leaving Monterosso and heading to Florence, via Pisa. We are able to stop on our way through Pisa as we need to change trains there to get to Florence. Not a bad outcome!

10.30 in the morning and the beaches had the signs up to say they were full already! We had one last gelato on the waterfront before jumping on the train to Pisa. After a mostly uneventful but very full

train ride we got to Pisa and went for a walk.

It was still incredibly hot. About 38 degrees as we walked through deserted streets towards the aptly named Field of Dreams. After a while we began to find some signs of life with little cafes and tourist shops appearing on the side of the road. Then we turned a corner and found all the tourists in one place, all doing the same thing!

The Field of Dreams has pretty much every tourist site in Pisa within its walls. The Duomo, Baptistry, Cemetery, a museum and the Leaning Tower itself. It really is leaning. We joined the crowds of people getting the obligatory photo holding up the tower or trying to push it over (lots of arguments to be viewed here!) before going for a walk around. The field is massive and very impressive. A spot of tourist shopping and it was time to head back towards the train

station. This time we actually found the main street and some Zespri golden kiwifruit at a produce stand (great!).

The train to Florence was much calmer and after picking up our key for the airbnb from a pizza restaurant (one of the more random check ins!) we walked to our accommodation and let ourselves in. We explored as far as the grocery store to pick up some supplies, before we made some dinner and had a night in. One small fail, after buying a bottle of wine to enjoy, the corkscrew was broken in the flat. We then spent the next three days trying to find one…..who knew it would be so hard to open a bottle of wine in Italy!