Italian Road Trip: First Day in Pisa

I'm in the process of planning another trip to Italy for about 3 weeks from now (yeah for my friend from the US finally coming to visit us after having to cancel her trip last year!), so I thought I'd take this opportunity to post some pictures from our first day in Pisa back in April (I know, I'm behind I'm behind I'm behind, work with me here people!).


[View from the hotel's roofdeck.]

We stayed at a hotel in a prime spot in the city, down a quiet little street right around the corner from the Leaning Tower. We were about a 15 minute walk to the train station, and on the side of the river with a lot of restaurants, outdoor markets, shopping and historic sites. We were very close to the student section as well, and you know what that means - cheap eats and cheap drinks! Woohoo!




I had thought that the Leaning Tower would be the #1 go-to touristy item in Pisa, but I was unaware at the time that Pinocchio was created in Pisa...that or Pisa played a major part in the story. Either way, there is Pinocchio paraphenalia everywhere...


...but don't worry, there were also plenty of Leaning Tower trinkets...


I couldn't help but post this one. Yeah, the Leaning Tower is cool and all, but I had so much more fun looking at the people doing silly poses with it...







Need the perfect gift for that hard-to-shop-for-Mussolini-adoring-friend in your life? Well look no further than Pisa!



Since we were so close to the Tower, I was able to get there early enough to beat the crowds. However within about an hour the square filled with tours and such very quickly...I saw this as a great time to find a spot to settle in with some espresso and postcards. I think I had the best spot in the cafe, as my outside seat looked directly at the Tower while still being able to stay clear of the tour madness...






After spending way too much time around the tower, I wanted to see what else Pisa had to offer. The city is really very accessible on foot, and I found that most of the crowds stayed very close to the tower, which made exploring the rest of the city a lot nicer for me.







[Hi.]


[Neat.]






This just might be one of my favorite pictures of Dan ever...


And eat we did. We started the night with drinks and free tapas on the river at Bazeel, and then stumbled upon a small little mom and pop shop for dinner. A little gelato rounded out our first evening in Pisa, and then back to the hotel before starting all over again the next morning.

More Italie to come...

A la prochain friends...