What Shall I Say About the Irish?: Italy Day Three- Pisa and Siena

Another day in Italy- how wonderful is that!? We woke up bright and early in Firenze so we could climb the Duomo before Denis had to catch his train back to Rome to fly back to Spain. Upon arriving at the Duomo, we found that the front doors were locked. We walked around the building and saw guards standing outside the church, but as we walked over to ask if we could climb the Duomo, they promptly went inside, closing the door behind them. Instead, we decided to climb up the bell tower of the church. We waited outside for about a half hour for it to open up (obviously you don't have to get up as early as you do for the Vatican Museum). We were the first group inside. Thankfully, the man told us we could not bring our bags up and let us leave them with him. It was an incredible climb- over 400 steps to the top. We stopped to take pictures on each level (and to catch our breath), but made it up in less than fifteen minutes. The view from the top was beautiful. It was a clear morning in Firenze and you could see all of the markets opening up below us. Our view also allowed us to see the Duomo at eye level. Somehow people were up there! I wonder how they managed that!

(View up the bell tower)

(View of the Duomo from the bell tower)

(I was at the top!)

(Making my mark!)

After the Duomo, we walked to the train station to say goodbye to Denis. Not two seconds after he left us we headed straight to the leather markets! I bought myself red leather gloves from a man who tried to sell me a matching jacket, too. I politely declined before sprinting off to find everyone else. We didn't have much time at the market before our train to Pisa, so we didn't get to see as much as we wanted to.

The train to Pisa was fairly quick. We arrived around 11:30 am and started off in the direction we thought the leaning tower was in. Along the way, we stopped for the best slice of pizza we had on the trip. The man was really friendly and he had a student discount so we got giant pieces of pizza for 1.50euro! Not too shabby!

As we rounded the corner of the street, the Leaning Tower loomed in the distance. We spent awhile taking pictures holding up and pushing down the tower. An old man helped us to position ourselves and figure out the best angle to take the pictures! They turned out really well! All around the tower were stalls of souvenirs, so naturally we had to look around them. They weren't anything to write home about, unfortunately.

(Holding up the tower!)

All of that walking and we just had to get... what else... gelato! Even after that, we had a long time before our train to Siena, so we waited at a cafe by the train station and drank our first cappuccinos! They were so yummy! Caroline said I should savor it because they just aren't the same in the States... I hope that isn't true!

(First cappuccino!)

Our train to Siena... was... interesting. We had a connecting train in Empoli. There, Allie met an Italian boy who was on our train and, lucky for us, spoke English. About 20 minutes into our ride, the train stopped dead in the tracks. This boy translated for us every time someone spoke over the intercom. Apparently there were "technical difficulties." Anyway, it took 40 minutes to fix whatever was wrong and we were finally on our way and not stranded in the middle of nowhere Italy.

Getting from Siena's train station into the town was a challenge we were not prepared for. The map that we bought was not very accurate. Somehow, we managed to recognize street names (even though they were connected to roads they shouldn't have been connected to) and got to our bed and breakfast after an hour or so of walking around in the dark. Casa di Antonella was a very cute B&B. Fabrizio, the manager was very nice. He showed us to our rooms (that had frescoes painted on the ceilings!) and told us that breakfast would be served the next morning.

Soon after arriving we headed out to find a restaurant. Right down the road was a restaurant that we couldn't pass up. I don't think any of us had ever eaten food so fast. The bread and appetizers were gone within minutes and nobody talked while eating the entrees. Everyone was simply too hungry from our travels to think of much else. When we were all satisfied the owner came by and asked if we would like any dessert. We said we would pass, but he brought us free limoncello anyway! How lucky are we?! First, free tiramisu and then free limoncello. Italy treated us well!