Holding Up the Leaning Tower

Alayna and I woke up real early during the first week of school to sign up for the AUR Student Life field trip to Tuscany this past weekend. On the itinerary: Pisa, Florence, & Trequqnda. The entire weekend was amazing. Here's a little bit about our first day spent holding up the Leaning Tower. 

After an aperitivo and gelato Thursday night instead of going to the Carnevale party, we rolled out of bed, packed, and wheeled our suitcases a mile to school by 7am. We always give funny looks to people walking around with suitcases but this time we were them. Hopping on the bus and freezing the whole ride there, we ended up in Pisa! It's actually a pretty small town. The baptistery, cathedral, graveyard, and, of course, the Leaning Tower are on the outside of town. They're actually just inside the old city walls. 

We met up with our tour guide, Marco, who was from just outside the city and hilarious to listen to. He gave us some history as we walked around. The tower was actually a lot smaller than I expected and just hanging out in a field. I don't know what I was imagining, but it was not what I saw. That doesn't mean it was disappointing! I've now seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa [and taken cheesy tourist pics :) ] which is nothing to scoff at.

[Struggling to make the pose.]

[Yes, I took a selfie.]

[Alayna had an epic pose.]

[And here I am being cheesy...]

[...and again!]

A little history on Pisa: The town was built in the 11th century. It is supposedly where Galileo was enlightened with his pendulum theory by seeing the chandelier in the church swing, but they then discovered that this is only legend. Apparently he came up with the theory before it was installed. Like several years before. Awkward. 

Anyway, there is a baptistery with half a roof tiled and half done in lead since they ran out of money. The east door of the baptistery serves as the exit ans faces the church as it represents the light you receive in Christianity.

[The entrance to the church.]

This is the famous sculpture inside the church. It depicts much of the Bible as people could not read nor understand the masses long ago. Pictures really were worth a thousand words. 

Continuing with our day, which we lucked out not getting rain until the moment we left, we found food. We were starving! Walking towards the city center this little porchetta panini shop caught our eye. We bopped in to find what we now like to call our Italian Jimmy John's :) Two guys were behind the counter making huge, delicious sandwiches. Mine was stuffed with pork, cheese, and sun dried tomatoes - one of their suggested eats! So good. 

The best part? The boy working brought us this.

Yes, that is a heart. Yes, it is also made out of raw meat. There is a lot of it here. I'm not gonna lie - it's really tasty!

Full and re-energized, we continued on to the Arne River for beautiful sights. This majestic building stands just next to it, as well.

We searched for San Andrea and the old train station that supposedly has a beautiful mural. We found the church but it was closed. 

That's getting to be way too typical for the adventures I've attempted lately. They don't like to work on Sundays, Mondays, and afternoons in particular. Absolutely no luck finding the mural, but it was fun to explore and walk around. It's a LOT quieter there. 

We stumbled across this picturesque door, a lovely little chapel, and a gorgeous garden on our way back towards the tower. 

Back on the bus, we watched Crazy, Stupid Love and continued to "President's Hotel" for the weekend. Aperitivo and dinner in the lobby had salad, veggie soup, salmon pasta, fish & potatoes, and tiramisu on the menu. The soup was my favorite and the fish was delicious!

A walk down the street led us to a pastry shop with yummy fruit gummy candy, a castle on a hill, and past the baths that Montecatini Terme is known for. 

Up tomorrow: Firenze!