Pisa

On our way to Cyprus, we stopped in Pisa.  We had to, as we were flying Ryan air......  We were there less then 24 hours, but that turned out to be just enough time to catch  a few local sites, and grab some amazing pizza and gelato.  Our hotel was close to the leaning tower. We made our way there without delay (well - we did stop to get some gelato).  It really is a beautiful square, and all the buildings are pleasant to behold.  But the leaning tower (a clock tower) is really amazing. Everyone around was taking pictures, and of course, most  were making the requisite, if cheesy pose, pretending to be pushing the tower bak in to place (or keeping it from falling - it l depends on your point of view). We could not resist and followed suit.

I hesitated to buy tour tickets.  They were steep.  However, this would have been my third time to Pisa without going inside.  I am glad we did...  We were all amazed that it is hollow inside.  It is a real functioning bell tower.  As we stood in the building, we kept slipping down to the low side (why were we surprised by this)?  We made our way up the the well worn spiral staircase to the top floor.

After the tour, we were all starving.  Maybe it was all the restaurants around the square?  We asked a local pedicab driver for the best pizza place in town, and made our way through the narrow old streets.  We arrived early, and the place was not open. We decided to kill some time by hanging out along the river, testing out a new harmonica I had purchased for the trip. It may sound strange, but everyone enjoyed trying to belt out a tune on the silly instrument  The people walking by sure seemed to get a kick out of it.  Maybe they were just confused that we did not have a hat out in front of us, asking for money?  Maybe next time.