When in Europe the UK and Beyond: The Not So Much Leaning Tower of Pisa and Lucca

I had arranged to meet up with the couple with whom I sat next to on the flight to Rome at 10:30am today in front of the train station. We were going to be going to see Pisa and Lucca together. However, after 15 minutes they still did not show up so I went on without them.

By lunchtime I had arrived in Pisa. I slowly meandered my way down towards the Leaning Tower with no sense of rush or urgency. Along the way I walked down many side streets and found some really extraordinary views of the River Arno. What really upset me, however, was as I sat there gazing upon the River Arno, I noticed how littered with trash it was. Many trash bags were floating down the river and other loose articles as well. It is really a shame that people were ruining such a beautiful river such as this one, by throwing their trash into it.

I kept walking along until I came upon a small little restaurant and received a very warm welcome when I walked in. I ordered the Chef's Choice of Pasta and then sat back and relaxed. The restaurant owner came up to me and started chatting up a storm in Italian to me. I explained to him that I did not speak any Italian, but he carried on anyways. I sat there and listened, nodding my head every once and while pretending like I knew what he was saying. I might be wrong but from my understanding, I think he might have been telling me something about his family and how his restaurant came about.

You could also tell that this was a place that many of the locals came to, as many of them popped in and out and had very animated conversations with the restaurant staff.

The pasta came with some delicious mini pizzas. The sauce on the pasta was of an exotic flavor to me. I could best describe it as some type of Alfredo sauce. Overall this was a very lovely little restaurant.

Twenty minutes later, I came upon the Leaning Tower of Pisa. To be perfectly honest, it was not as leaning as I had always imagined it to be. Granted the Tower of Pisa was still somewhat of an angle that was still impressive, but not to the degree that any picture depicts of it.

Many people who surrounded the tower were all doing the generic photo of themselves pushing on the tower. Some people were even striking up various yoga poses. To be perfectly honest it looked pretty ridiculous to me. A picture in front of the Tower of Pisa was good enough for me.

Within the same plaza in which held the Leaning Tower of Pisa, there was also a Baptistery, a Basilica and several museums.

First I went into the Basilica. Out of all the religious buildings I had been in thus far in Italy, this one had the most impressive biblical paintings that were massive in size; some of these paintings were nearly 20ft high. However, apart from the impressive paintings the interior was not anything widely different than what I have described in previous pieces.

Most of the museums were closed for renovations, but there was one opened.  Inside this museum there were various paintings in which dated back some 600-700+ years ago. Much of what had remained of the painting was very faint red etchings that amazingly somehow have been able to stand the test of time.

Aside from the area in which the Tower of Pisa was situated there really was not a whole lot else to do in Pisa. I then decided to wander around Pisa for a while and see if I could find anything else to do while there. As I roamed around the streets, I came upon a very interesting lizard/gecko, I am not sure which one it was. He was extremely tiny, no larger than my thumb.  His back was lined with neon green dots and his skin was jet black. I sat there for several minutes looking at him, until he eventually decided to scurry off.

I then hopped back on the train for a short ride to Lucca. The city of Lucca is a relativity a medium sized place contained within walls. It reminded me a lot of Old Québec city to some extent. The main difference however, was that when walking along the wall you could enjoy phenomenal views of the mountains. It would be the perfect city to bike around or even a nice jog around. To top this experience all off there was not really any tourist around or frankly anyone, so it was nice to have some peace and quiet away from the city.

  

Within the constraints of the walls was a complex labyrinth of streets that did not appear to have any logical flow to them. You could be walking down a street then moments later it would abruptly stop. I found myself walking around in circles a few times until I got a better sense of orientation. The streets themselves were very quiet and empty no one was really around. I suppose it was late afternoon right before 5pm and everyone was on siesta or something.  I tried wandering around to see if I could find any museums to look at, but a majority of them were closed.

I did find a torture museum that was quite the oxymoron to such a beautiful place. Inside there were detailed descriptions of various torture devices. It was really fascinating yet at the same time chilling being inside.

After the museum I proceeded back to Florence and got back to my hotel around 8pm. I went out for dinner and then relaxed in my hotel for the rest of the night.

Tomorrow starts the last phase of my adventure as I travel to Venice. It is hard to believe that time has elapsed so fast. It felt just like yesterday that I landed in Rome and it has been one amazing life altering experience and I look forward to seeing where I stand as a person upon the completion of this journey.