Piece o' Pisa

The famous tower
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Landed at Pisa airport after a quick flight from Prestwick. I love online check-in. I went from my aunts front door in Ayr to the departure lounge at the airport in 14mins!!!! How fab is that!! I even got on the plane 1st as online check-in gets priority boarding!!

Anyhoo' back in Italia(my 4th trip to this beautiful country)i waited at the airport for Nicky to arrive from London. I got us train tickets whilst i waited.  The we hopped on the train to the walled city of Pisa. It was only 5mins on the train! We could probably have walked if we knew what direction to go in!!  It was a gorgeous sunny hot day, a far cry from the snow i left behind in scotland!!! Was great to be in a tshirt!  I'd been at Pisa train station a few years ago and nowt had changed. It was still gloomy and rundown. Didnt stop me getting off this time. Off we treked with our mini rucksacks in search of the Tower!It must be said Pisa is in desperate need of a good lick of paint. There is grafitti everywhere and it's a shame that some of the old buildings have been defaced!!!  Nevertheless we wandered around soaking up the Italian sunshine and looking upwards for the tower. We grabbed some lunch on the way but the park was crowded (lots of uni students) so we took it with us for later.  It was only a 15min walk to the tower from the train station.  It was totally bizarre seeing such an iconic landmark just popping out behind a few buildings!I couldnt take my eyes off it and its "lean" It really does lean!!  We parked ourselves on the lawn by the tower and had lunch. Then got tickets to go up the tower.

Leeeeeeeeannnnnnnn on Meeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!

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Climbing the Tower was an experience itself! Ive climbed many a tower around the World but this has go to be one of the most fun climbs ive had!! It may only be 56m high but it took a fair time to reach the top-why?? Well we were staggering all over the place!! The 5m lean of the Tower really disorientates you! We felt like a couple of steamers(drunks) falling all over the place haha. Was dead funny though. It didnt help that the stairs were marble and slidey and the higher we climbed the narrower they became!! On the last flight of stairs i was on my hands and knees, crawling up like a baby haha!! I was scared i would slip or get blown over the edge haha!!It dosent have the most secure barriers!! The views from the top are amazing!! It was a really clear day and we could see right across to the mountains. It was pretty cool being right next to the bells! It was well worth the 8Euros. I'd highly reccommend climbing the 294steps,even for comedy value!!

me by the towers bell
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We wandered around Pisa and took the usual touristy snap shots.Though we did refrain from doing the cheesy "holding up the tower" shots!!  As much as a dump Pisa is, the Duomo and Leaning Tower definitely make it worth the visit.