At the top of the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

On our last morning in Pisa, after a too-late-night-out celebrating the conclusion of the week long school that Doc was teaching at, we decided to do what most people would do following a night of a lot of beer and a 1:00 am kebab dinner - pay 15 euro a piece to go to the top of a tower that leans hazardously to the left...or is it the right...depends on what direciton you're facing I guess...

...oh whatever you get the point.

We went to the top of the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

It was a very last minute decision as we had to check out of the hotel within the hour, and we hadn't bought our tickets yet, but we were lucky enough to grab the last few spots for the 10:30 am tour.

The way up was narrow, and the marble steps were beautifully worn down in the center. When you got to a part of the tower that leaned (because the stairs are a spiral to the top), it felt like you were being propelled downhill despite the fact that you were clearly walking uphill...

The Duomo and Bapistry behind me...

Bar Duomo down below...

If you ever get to Pisa, please please please go to the top of the Tower. Yes, it's 15 euro a person and yes you are sharing it with 40 other people on a strict 30 minute time limit, but it was worth it. In fact, I'm hoping this was not my last time going to the top of the tower.

After our descent, we grabbed a last minute gelato (it was the best walnut and pistachio gelato I've ever had), and went to the car to embark on the next part of our journey to Monchiero in Piedmont. What we didn't realize was that we were driving right into a huge freak snowstorm on the Mediterranean Coastline that would follow us to Piedmont...  

Duh duh duhhhhhhh!!!

 

A la prochaine friends...

 

Honey

Wandering in Pisa, Italy.

Have I mentioned before that Pisa is one of my favorite cities in Europe, if not my favorite? I think Doc feels the same way after a conversation we had over apertivos at Bazeel on this most recent trip to the city that boasts a lot more than just an architectural blunder turned famously infamous.

We like Pisa so much so that we've even had the discussion of "where else in Europe could we see ourselves living," and Pisa, so far, would be the frontrunner.

Maybe it's the fact that I've never seen a place where more people ride bikes and scooters than drive cars...

...or the fact that I'm a real sucker for sweet graffiti...

...and little windy streets...

...but there's just something about Pisa that makes Doc and I feel right at home.

And I almost got through this whole post without putting up a picture of the tower...



...so close!

A la prochaine friends...

 

Honey

24 hour train strike in Italy.

One thing I've learned about traveling in Europe - the best laid plans always go up in a beautiful sparkle of flames. Kaboom. Whether it's volcanoes keeping planes grounded, earthquakes in Italy that no one seems to actually know happened, or avalanche warnings, something can and will most likely go wrong. The key is making something interesting out of the wrong.

On Wednesday we learned that there would be a train strike in Italy from 9 PM Thursday to 9 PM Friday, which meant that we would not find ourselves eating truffle gnocchi in Florence on Friday night as we had previously planned. But when Italy hurls lemons at you, what do you do? You make limoncino and then finish up with an espresso...or, as was the case last night, a few Tennant Scotch Ales and a midnight kebab with a bunch of Pisan and physicist students.

This also afforded us an extra morning to do some touristy things together for once - like go into Pisa's Duomo and then go to the top of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Because let's be serious, after a late night full of Higgs boson discussions, scotch ale, really bad House music and late night kebabs, is there anything else you'd rather do at 10 AM than walk to the top of a tower that leans more than slightly to the left? Obviously not.

And then there was the snowstorm on the Mediterranean in Liguria slowing everything down that continued into Piedmont on our long drive to Monchiero later in the afternoon...and its still snowing out now...

But it's a hell of a lot nicer watching from the window of our former monastery/castle turned spa hotel, then it was holding my breathe and closing my eyes as we traversed slick and windy roads on top of cliffs, being passed by Italian drivers going way too fast...

...and honestly, if we get "stuck" here another night because of the snow, I am more than a little ok with that.

Bonne nuit tout le monde!

A la prochaine friends...

 

Honey

Espresso in Pisa.

I had the best table in the house for espresso the other morning...

All pictures taken with my phone from the table...

...not too shabby a way to start the day if you ask me.

A la prochaine friends...

 

Honey