Pisa

WARNING: Picture overload

Yesterday I went to Pisa with Chloe, Grace, Olivia and Hannah. It was the first trip I have taken here where we're completely on our own. Previous trips have been through NYU or Florence for Fun. It's easy to be a sheep (or shoop) when you don't have to worry about catching trains on time, where to go or what to do. I had such a good time with complete freedom to come and go when we pleased, eat when we were hungry and do only what we wanted and nothing more. 

We all met up around 10:30. While Chloe and I were waiting for the others we had a light breakfast of gooey chocolate crossants and bitter espresso. We took the 11:00 train to Pisa and got there around noon. We leisurely made our way to the other side of town where the complex was and stopped to have lunch along the way (well I called it pre-lunch because we had two lunches). I had chicken liver patté and a salad. I don't think I've had chicken liver before, but I wanted to try something new! It was delicious! I thought it would be a weird consistency but it was smooth and very meaty.

When we got to the complex we spent a long time taking touristy pictures in front of the tower. We bought tickets and then went to the baptistry. I was very excited to see the pulpit. Chloe, Olivia and I then climbed the tower. The first time I was in Pisa I didn't get to, so I was excited to be able to. The stairs were a little disconcerting. The view from the top was breath-taking. When we got back down to the ground the five of us when into the cathedral. The second we walked through the doors there was an ethereal feeling. The church was massive and heavily adorned. There was distant choir music that blanketed the hall and silenced the people. In Italy one thing that has been so great is being able to use my knowledge of art history to recognize patterns, date things and learn about religion.

After the cathedral we did a little shopping. I bought a mini leaning tower and a tiny complex that has the tower, the baptistry and the cathedral. Then we walked back across the river and had our second lunch consisting of a ham and cheese crepe and a glass of wine. We caught a train back to Florence at 6:00. We sprinted to get the train, only to wait ten minutes for it to leave. On the train the conductor told us that we had to get our tickets stamped on the platform (which we didn't know) and he had the ability to give us each a 40 euro fine. He was a nice guy and realized that we didn't know so he only fined us 5 euro each for stamping the tickets on board - needless to say I will not make that mistake again. Even though I had been to Pisa before, it was a completely different experience this time. I'm thankful to have gone twice and both times have been equally special in different ways!