Monday 16.4.11 - Pisa

Today we travelled by train to the city of Pisa, to visit the Piazza de Miracoli which is home to the leaning bell tower, the cathedral and baptistery (which are all on a lean, in a different direction) and the graveyard (which is the only part of the square which is not on a lean). We all climbed the tower, even those of us who are not so keen on heights, but the view at the top was worth it. The tower has nearly 300 stairs and when you walk up it you can feel the lean of the tower. Sometimes you would feel like you were walking downwards when actually you were walking up the tower and vice versa. After climbing the tower in two separate groups we went on a short tour of the square and the surrounding buildings. Most people did the tourist thing and take photos of themselves holding up the tower. 80% of the tower was made from marble, and the inside was a large spiral staircase which got steeper towards the top. It was relieving to finally make it to the top and catch some fresh air, the view was spectacular and we were able to see a football field, farmland and mountains in the distance.

After our tour, we were able to enjoy lunch at the local cafes and explore the markets in the square. There were a lot of different things to see. By the afternoon it was raining, so we were fortunate that the sun was out while we were climbing the tower.

At the end of our time in Pisa, we had to rush to make the train in enough time, everyone did well and we made it to the station with a few minutes to spare. Luckily the train was late, which was in our favour. The train took us back to Florence, where we were given more time to do some shopping, most of us girls went mad on clothes and some boys even brought musical instruments.

To finish off our interesting day, we sat down at our restaurant for dinner, it was nice to finally sit down and relax for a little while. Dinner had its up and downs with a different sort of potato bake to what most of us are used to, (it turned out to be Polenta) but the dessert, which was panacotta was one of the best so far.

We then said our final goodbyes to the Florence CBD. Many of us were a little sad to be leaving, however I think many of us will be visiting again in the future!

Emily’s favourite part of today was seeing the leaning bell tower in real life and not just in photos, and also having the best pesto gnocchi ever.

Brad’s favourite part of today was being able to climb up the tower and see the view of the city from the top.


Some of the group on top of the Leaning Tower of Pisa

Dinner at Boccadama, Florence

The Leaning Tower of Pisa

Piazza de Miracoli

Hayley and Sophie climbing The Leaning Tower of Pisa

Mr Reece chilling at Pisa