Weekend Trip #2 Pisa

11 am today we embarked on our first train to Pisa! Pisa is about a 50 minute train ride from Florence! We paid 16 euros round trip, then once we got to Pisa had to pay 18 euros for the ticket to get to climb to the top of the tower, which also included access into the Cathedral. When you purchase a ticket you purchase a time slot to walk to the top of the tower, you aren't allowed bags in the tower, so your purchase also includes a locker where you check in before your time slot to store your belongings. Normally you hear complaints that you don't get into the tower anywhere near your time slot, but I thought it was productive the way they organize this. We checked our bags into our locker at 2:00 but our time slot wasn't until 2:15 (which we bought at 12:30), so we headed over to the line. It only takes about 10 minutes max to climb to the top of the tower, including stopping to take pictures and seeing whats inside the main level, so i'm assuming people don't spend more than an hour inside. So at 2:15 they let everyone in that had a 2:15 time slot. But once those tickets were up you had to wait 30 minutes until the next time slot. So it prevented people from entering earlier than there time slot, not waiting in line for hours, and not having an over crowded tower (which honestly wouldn't be possible because the stairwell is tight. Even though you may be thinking it is pricey to climb the tower, it is all worth it. The views from the top are breathtaking, and the Cathedral was huge and took about an hour to walk through and all around, so for seeing the best two monuments for 18 euros (when seeing the other three monuments was 9 euros all together) in the end its worth it. Its a once in a lifetime experience, and I would do it the same all over again! During our free time we got lunch on the go then walked to all the little shops and a few sites along the street. I think its important when on this experience to collect something from every place you travel. From my travels here last year I collected water color paintings that people create and sell on the street, so I decided to continue that tradition. Normally you see them everywhere and I struggled to find one today, but I lucked out and I did find one.

All in all it was a great trip and I would recommend it to anyone. It was a quick 4 and a half hour day, but we walked 6 miles total, and brought back great memories. The site from the top of that tower is something I will never forget.