Bookworms and Travelbugs

S and I stopped for a half day trip to Pisa on our way to Cinque Terre from Venice. While the Leaning Tower is definitely the most popular attraction here, this place also has a nice college town vibe to it, which might make it fun to visit for a couple days with a side trip to Lucca.

Entering the Piazza dei Miracoli, you’re immediately greeted with the grandeur of the Pisa Cathedral, with the Tower peeking out behind it. It’s an exquisite sight, the vast green lawn stretched out in front, the Duomo, the cathedral and the of the course, the iconic Leaning Tower all scattered around it.

We had a quick lunch at Fabiano’s (delicious sandwiches), and went to join the multitude of people chilling on the Square of Miracles. S, as always, set up his tripod while I admired the stunning, centuries old architecture around me.  The elaborately carved Baptistery and Cathedral are so majestic that I simply felt dwarfed in it’s presence.

After some time, we made our way to pick up our ticket to climb to the top the tower (we had pre-booked this online. You can also book them when you get to Pisa, but the wait could be significant on a busy day). They had one of the most unique security screening processes I’ve seen. Apart from the usual metal detectors and checking bags, you stare into an army(?)/security guy’s eyes, and he stares right back at you. Not sure how that helps, maybe he’s a mind reader! After being okayed, we finally entered the iconic Leaning Tower of Pisa 😀

They started with a small presentation explaining the history of the tower, and soon we began the climb up the steep spiral staircase to the top. The roof gives a gorgeous sweeping view of this historical city and the garden below. we hung out there for a bit, saw the bells, and made our way back down.

This was definitely worth the half day stop that we made here, we had a very pleasant time at this landmark. It was soon time to get our bags from the station luggage storage and head to our next stop, the Cinque Terre!