Pisa

I am determined to finish blogging all of the places we visited in Italy. I know I've forgotten a lot of details, but I still have stories to tell and things I remember that I want to write down before I lose it.

Our visit to Pisa was super short. Like, we drove all day to get to it, spent 20 minutes walking to it, and then maybe half an hour touring it. You hear all your life about the Leaning Tower of Pisa. It would seem to be this remarkable place, right? But not so much. The town is kind of dumpy (sorry, Pisans, I hope I don't offend!) And the complex where the church, baptistry, and tower are situated are probably the most exciting thing there. Had the tower not leaned, I doubt many people would know it existed.

However, we did pass a nice hour or so in Pisa. We got there in the late afternoon. Our group did what every tourist to Pisa does: takes pictures of themselves holding up the tower. It was all good fun.

I can hold up the Tower of Pisa with one hand...

I like this picture of my mom. The perspective is off on purpose - I just liked seeing her enjoying herself.

Deep Blue can hold up the Tower, too. (Amy and I took tons of pictures of Deep Blue in famous places for our niece Lyndsay. Maybe you had to be there...but it still makes me giggle.)

I loved rocking my running skirt through Italy. Amy wore a blue skirt that day, too. People would get us mixed up and then say, "Oh, wait, you're the pink one. I thought you were the blue one." Good times with group travel.

I also took this video of Pisa. (I sound like a big old dork!)

Believe me, this is pretty much all there is to the town. But it was fun to visit this tourist trap with my family.  Here is our group:

Thanks, Brian Woolley, for the group picture.

At the end of this long day, we ended up in a Tuscan mountain town called Montecatini. That night, our hotel comped us our dinner. It was so yummy! The four of us all sat together and my mom told us stories about our grandpa and grandma when they were younger.

It was exciting to get to the Tuscan part of our trip, where we would visit Siena, San Gimignano, and Florence. It was sad that we were there in October - all of the famous Tuscan sunflowers were dead. But these days were beautiful and it felt like fall was just around the corner.