Leaning Tower of Pisa

Pisa

We made our way over to Pisa for a quick day trip. There wasn’t a lot on our list to see in Pisa – other than the famous Leaning Tower of PIsa. I had read a bit about the Duomo and Baptistry and those were right next to the Leaning Tower.

The thing that is interesting about some of these Italian cities is that there are frequently people in the side streets who try to “help” you out by pointing out the very same parking spot you had laid eyes on. They want you to repay them for their labor (aka standing in the parking spot to save it for you – or the other car behind you). We didn’t fall for that trap – although I’m sure other car fulls did.

The other scheme we’ve been noticing is that the same individuals referenced above will put a bracelet on your wrist as “free” and if you don’t pay them they will follow you whichever way you are walking to collect their money. (Basically when you get sick of them following you, you just give them the 5 euro to get off of your back). I haven’t bothered to even look at what they are trying to sell – but I can just about guarantee it’s junk.

The Leaning Tower is everything I expected and more. It is a beautiful gleaming white – and has the tell tale tilt. As soon as we got there – you can immediately see the crowd leaning with the tower – to push it over or hold it up. There wasn’t a lot of space to take pictures without getting at least one person in the background.

We had been there for roughly a few minutes when we heard Jon’s name. There was actually a group from San Diego that Jon and Yvonne knew from the restaurant scene there! What timing to run into them there.

We took our shots – and then made our way over to the Baptistry and Duomo. We didn’t actually want to pay for these – in my research there wasn’t too much significance. Jon and Andy went into the one – and took some pictures. Then all four of us went into the church – which was really cool to see a panel painting of the Madonna and baby Jesus from the early 1200s. It also appeared that there were one or two saints that were buried/on display there. (We saw a skull and then there was a casket – not near each other. Not entirely sure who they both were – one didn’t have a sign). One of them I believe was Saint Ranieri – who is the Patron Saint of Pisa. It is said that he performed miracles – however, I can’t find any stories on them.

Naturally, after picking up a few souvenirs we stopped for lunch and gelato. (Of course). This was some really good gelato – both Jon and I had read that if it’s good gelato the color is a little more dull.

We were pleased when we saw some dull colors coming from the freezer. Yvonne had previously bought a cute leather backpack when they had been here years ago – we were on the hunt for one for me – and an updated one for her. We were able to score a few items before we made our way to our first official wine tasting event.

We were running behind – and we missed our appointment. However, we stumbled across another beautiful winery called Fontodi. The grounds were beautiful – and our server was studying languages in her undergraduate degree. She was interested in studying wine for her Master’s program though. She knew 3.5 languages – the half language was Chinese. Impressive.

Our first wine stop

We were off to the next location – Riseccoli. This property had a beautiful outdoor area. We thoroughly enjoyed sitting outside and trying a wide selection of wines. We purchased a few bottles there – but we will be drinking one of them here.

Jon had made reservations at another agriturismo near ours. It was absolutely stunning – we made it there for sunset. The food was phenomenal. Overall, it was another wonderful day in Italy.