Day Seven -- Pisa

Up early to get ready to leave Florence today. We had breakfast in the hotel and then hurried up the tower to the rooftop for one more gorgeous view of Florence. We locked our room, turned in the key and asked for a taxi. We were there before we knew it. Turns out that we went only 2/3 of a mile. Probably could have schlepped our luggage there but have I mentioned how tired we are? We stopped in the train station's cafe/bookshop, got espressos and caught up on some of the news. We boarded the train around 9:30 a.m. and made the hour journey to Pisa. Our plan was to check our luggage and take a taxi to the Field of Miracles, where the Duomo, Baptistery, Camposanto and the bell tower (Leaning Tower of Pisa) are located. 

 

We can walk back if we have time. We had four hours before our next train left. We got to the Field of Miracles around 11 a.m. and feverishly took photos of the tower. In some locations it doesn't look like the tower leans very much. It does --15 feet off its vertical axis. In 1990 they spent $30 million to stabilize it. Gayle and I knew we didn't want to pay the 18 E to make the 30 minute timed 300 steps to climb to the top--that you also have to climb down. We figured that it's wonder was freely on display in front of us.

 

Then we headed to the entrance to the Duomo.

 

It is free. But we were told that we needed to go stand in the ticket line to get our free ticket to enter the Duomo.  It was frustrating because we had spent the evening before re-reading info about Pisa so that we would use our four hours wisely. Somehow we missed this bit of info. We hiked back to the ticket line and waited for about 20 minutes. We decided to pay the entrance fees to the Baptistery, the Camposanto and get an untimed entrance into the Duomo. The inside of the Duomo is impressive. It boasts Galileo's lamp (a replica) and the mummified corpse of Saint Ranieri. In 2000, using a computer scan of his skull, they created a silver mask that would look like his face.

 

But the center piece of the Duomo is this carved pulpit by Giovanni Pisano. It is definitely impressive.

 

We exited the Duomo and walked the few feet to the Baptistery. A huge baptismal, large enough for adult immersions, held the central spot.

 

Then we went into the Camposanto (cemetery). The walls are covered with frescoes of death, destruction and the devil. Saints are entombed in the wall and floor. 

 

It is actually a very lovely place. 

 

We went in search of food and had a terrible lunch. It's only saving grace was a view of the Leaning Tower. By that time it was too late to walk back. We stood at the taxi stand, made two phone call requests for a taxi and finally got a ride back to the train station in just enough time to collect our bags and make it to our assigned train track.  The next two train rides were pretty tough on us. On the first one we sat in some couple's seats not realizing that we had assigned seats. Another new learning. On the second train we thought we had all the room in the world until we came upon one stop in which we were suddenly inundated with people. We almost didn't make it off at our stop....another learning. 

We managed to fight our way off at Vernazza. We are staying at Casa Cato and we were supposed to go to the Gadget Shop (Souvenir Store) at the train station for help to our room. The man behind the counter shook both our hands, picked up our suitcases and headed up the steep stone stairs faster than we could keep up sans luggage. We are absolutely thrilled with our room and its location high on the hill. The view alone is outstanding.

 

We decided to head down the steep path into town before it got dark. 

 

However, people in Vernazza don't eat before 7 p.m. So we made a reservation for 7 and sat near the water watching a couple having their wedding photos taken by a drone.  Back up the hill after dark. Our room is close to the train station and provides earplugs. We put them in, refused to set our alarms and went to sleep with the window open and the smell of the sea covering us.