Sunday, April 17, 2011

Leaning with the Tower.....PIIIIIIISAAAAA!

This morning at 5:30am Lynnea and I left the apartment in Fondi and headed to the little bus stop around the corner to get the bus to the Fondi-Sperlonga train station, we were headed to Pisa for the day. We had reserved our tickets to climb the tower a couple weeks ago, and we were excited to get there!

First we had to take a train from Fondi to Rome, where we would then buy our tickets for the train to Pisa. When we got to Rome we got in line to get the tickets for the train, we wanted to take the direct and fast train (Frecciabianca) to Pisa, so we wouldn't have to make any stops and change trains. Well, the line was slow, then we figured out we could go into another line a little further down. By the time we got up to the ticket counter it was 8am. The train we wanted left at 8:07. YIKES!  We told them what we wanted, and after figuring it all out, he told us what platform (which was wrong) and we went looking for the train. We found it at 8:05, whew!
NOPE, the train was pulling away from the platform, doors shut, and picking up speed. Good thing I wrote down the times of some other trains, that I figured out would still get us there on time, we would just have to make one stop.  We headed back to the ticket counter and asked the woman if she could help us out, first she said she couldn't refund the ticket, we could just catch the next one that went to Pisa at noon. Well that wouldn't work because, 1. that was already half the day gone and 2. we had a tower climb at 12:20 (non-refundable). So I asked her about the other trains that changed in Firenze (Florence) and at first she said no we couldn't do it, then she said it was full, then she said oh yeah you can take the one at 8:45am and all you have to do is pay the difference in the fare (which was like 8 euro). Why that wasn't an option in the first place, I don't know, but it worked out, we bought it, and we headed to the platform! Found our train, got on board and realized that she put us is different seats AND in different cars. Luckily no one was sitting in the seat next to my assigned one, so Lynnea sat next to me! We got settled in and headed off to Firenze!
Once we got to Firenze, we quickly asked a nice assistance man where the train to Pisa was, he told us, and we hopped on for another hour ride to Pisa. We got there at 11:30, and headed right to the tower to get our tickets for the tour.  It's about a 20-30min walk directly from the train station to the piazza where the main tourist attractions are; could be longer if you stop to look at the shops or venture off the side roads to see the other less known sights. We decided to save those things for on the way back to the train station. We walked down the main street and as we turned the corner where the sign was pointing to the tower, THERE IT WAS, leaning above the other buildings, and I was just so excited that we were there.
View from the street
There I was seeing this in person, after so many years of reading about it in school, watching shows where people visit it, and always seeing it on TV, there I was getting ready to walk UP IT.

Lynnea and I checked our purses (they don't allow any type of purse or bag during the climb) and went up the tower! The stairs were a little bit concave, dipping in the center of each step, it was kind of difficult to climb, not to mention the amount of steps you have to walk up. After going up the first level, they usher you out at the first level, to take pictures and walk around the tower, it was fun to feel it go from incline to decline as you circled the outside of the tower!
Then they usher you back inside and up some more steps, where you exit at the next level,  then you go back in and go up more spiral like steps and exit at the level where the bells are, I thought this was the last level we were allowed on, so Lynnea and I are walking around, sitting on the steps, and we realize there is ANOTHER level, the VERY VERY TOP.
In front of the 

View from the first level

Me on the first level of the tower in front of the Cathedral

Ringing the bell!

Me on top of the tower

View of the Cathedral and Baptistery

View of the Cathedral

Me on top of the tower again

The stairwell to the very top

Me walking up the tiny stairwell































































This is a tiny tiny tiny spiral stairwell that you have to walk up and then you are on top of the tower! Looking down onto the square of all of the people sitting on the grass, the tops of the houses in the city, the different monuments in the piazza, and the view of the mountains in the distance, it was just incredible and so unreal! We walked around, took our pictures, then headed back down the steps.


After the tour, we got our tickets to tour the other buildings in the Piazza dei Miracoli (Square of Miracles). The buildings in this square are: The Cathedral (Duomo di Pisa), the Baptistery (Battistero), cemetery (Campo Santo Monumentale) the Leaning Tower (Torre) and 2 different museums.  After the tower tour, we went into the Cathedral and walked around and looked at all of the different artwork, pulpits, and items they have set up.

The pulpit in the Cathedral
Front of the church













After the Cathedral, we went into the Baptistery, where you can also climb some steps and go up to the dome area of it and get a great view out one of the windows. YAY, more steps! I read somewhere that if you are lucky, sometimes one of the guards or workers will go to the center of the baptistery and sing some chords and let the people listen to them echo. Well, we got lucky because they did that while we were in there and it was AMAZING! The sound was beautiful!!!

The Baptistery
Looking down into the Baptistery from the top level


The tombs in the cemetery


After that we went into the cemetery, where they have what looks like old tombs along the walls (I think they were empty). In the halls of this building they have a lot of statues and artwork that is being  reconstructed.



The cemetery from the outside

The art that was restored from the walls of the cemetery
The courtyard in the cemetery























After that we had to of course take our pictures with the tower! We walked around and looked at the many carts lining the streets selling little souvenirs, and went to a nice little restaurant to have some lunch!
Just hanging out with the tower!

Leaning against the tower!

















 Then it was time to head back to the train station, and we had enough time to stop at some of the shops we saw on the main street. First we stopped a little pasticceria that I read is the place to go (and it was). It's called Salza, and the desserts this place had looked amazing! They were very colorful and so sweet looking, I bought a little chocolate duck!


The sweets in the shop
The chocolate duck




















Then we headed to the said to be best gelato bar in the area, you know I had to get some. IT WAS AMAZING!! Then we walked over the Middle Bridge (Ponte di Mezzo) which crosses the Arno river, and headed back to the train station, where we made our train back to Rome, then rome back to Fondi!
Lynnea and me with our gelato in front of the gelato bar!

On the bridge crossing the Arno River!


It was an amazing day!!! Here in the link to my album with all the pictures! enjoy!!!


Italian word/phrase of the day: La Torre Pendente  "The Leaning Tower"

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