Italy: Day 7, Part 1

We got up early to eat another bready breakfast and board the bus. I was sad to leave Florence because I really, really liked the city. However, I was excited about Pisa, an American breakfast, Verona, an American breakfast, sailing, an American breakfast, and Venice.  Plus, I was kind of ready to go home. I know, I should have forgotten about my queen size bed and clean clothes and just enjoyed the experience. I hate to admit it, but I missed America. I was incredibly torn about this once in a lifetime trip and my homesickness. Plus, I felt like we were hemorrhaging money. We had to pay for most of our meals with Euros instead of a credit card and every time we took out more Euros from the ATM, we got charged a fee. The fee wasn't awful, but I hated it. Plus, I didn't want a bunch of Euros when the trip was over. The exchange fee from dollars to Euros or vice versa is ridiculous - even at our friendly bank that gave us an international credit card (Thanks Mrs. Susan!).  The smallest Euro bill is 5 Euros. That's about 7 bucks. I couldn't keep seven dollars out of our bank account and in a drawer somewhere because we overdrew on Euros.  I mostly kept it to myself. Until Venice, but that's a couple more days away.

Anyway, on to Pisa!

We drove for a couple of hours from Florence into Pisa. Pisa is not exactly on the way to Venice, neither is Verona. The tour went out of way several hours so we could have a day of seeing two pretty neat sights. I was okay with it. So were my blistered feet.

When we got to Pisa, we had to park about a mile away and then walk into the walled city. Along the way, I got to see one of my favorite Italian sights:

 

Poppies! They are beautiful. And grew everywhere. Fields and fields of them. I tried to take pictures from the bus, but they didn't come out very well. I hope I remember those fields forever. 

After entering the great wall, we went to the restroom. For free. At McDonalds!!!! And you know what my sweet husband did? He bought me a euro burger and some fries. The drink he got for us to share even had ice in it. Not much, but there was some. That was the first ice we had seen in a week.  It made me feel better and a little less homesick.

The outdoor terrace at Mickey D's.

And then, we turned the corner and saw this: 

 That is it. All there is of Pisa. That's the whole city, right there.

I'm lying. The city was actually pretty big - I think there's even a such thing as the University of Pisa. But seriously, the famous thing about Pisa is the Leaning Tower. And there it is. The Tower is actually the bell tower to go along with that church that's in front of it.

Like in all other Italian cities, we could have climbed to the top for a nominal fee. But let's get real, if it's already leaning, I don't want to be the one that tips it over by going to the top. We chose not to climb. Instead, we became the average American tourist and tried to push it back straight.

 

 And then my sweet husband decided that he'd try to push it over. The bully. 

See, here's that wall I was telling you about: 

It goes all the way around the city. I guess those Italians were worried about invaders and had to protect all their cities.

And finally, one last shot of the Leaning Tower with no goofy tourist poses. I believe it leans because it wasn't built on solid ground. I could be wrong though, I didn't really pay that much attention. I was enjoying by burger from McDonalds too much.