Italy Day 9 - Pisa and more Florence (30 April 2007)

** Historical Post **
Ring ring went the bells again. We had our light breakfast at the hotel, then walked to the train station. We had a short wait for the train to Pisa, then about an hour to get there. As has been the pattern, it started raining after we got to Pisa. We threw on our ponchos and kept walking. We wandered through the square around the famous leaning tower, then started looking for lunch. After an attempt to go to a restaurant recommended by the tourist office (it was closed for a private mafia party), we ended up at a pizza place near the tower. The food was terrible and the service was worse. If you are ever in Pisa, avoid the touristy areas for lunch. After our bad lunch, we walked back to the train station by way of the shopping district. Overall, Pisa is rather disappointing. We were told to plan a half day and not to waste too much time... This turned out to be good advice. The train ride back to Florence was interesting. We were visited by two Japanese that didn't speak, then by a man from Niger. He was friendly, however we both felt like he was about to ask up to help him get money from his "rich uncle" back home. He jumped off at the first stop for Florence (probably to go to his job selling fake Prada). Once we got back to the main station for Florence, we walked past the Piazza Republica to a gelato shop that was listed in Lonely Planet. Fiesta del Gelato is said to have almost every flavor available. Although this may be true, it was very overpriced, was not very good, and did not provide much quantity. By far, the worst gelato experience to date. To improve our spirits, we headed over to the duomo and got in line. We were headed to the top of the coupola (dome). 463 arduous steps later, we made it to the top. Anyone with heart issues or a fear of tight spaces should not attempt to go up. If you can make the trek, the view is well worth it. While we were at the top, I say a guy trying to carve something into the marble of the coupola. I walked up to him and smacked him on the back. He was totally shocked that anyone would stop him. He looked like he was writting something in Korean. I kept an eye on him for a few minutes. He kept looking over at me guiltily. We left as the dome was closing. We decided that after our bad experiences with food that we would just go back to the same restaurant from the night before. Again, the food was great. After dinner, we walked up to the Piazza de Santa Croce where there was a public market. For dessert, we got a piece of fresh baked apple strudel that was very yummy. After finally having some good food, we called it a day.