Where the Towers Are Leaning

After our brief nap at the hotel with the receptionist who took pity on us, we boarded our 3am train to Florence, where we would then take a connecting train to Pisa, then to La Spezia. At 3am, nothing should be open, no one should be awake, yet there we were standing in the cold with all our belongings for 2 weeks waiting for a train. When the train finally arrived we were so happy, so happy until we got on the train to realize there were no more seats left. For a good hour into the train ride, we were sitting on top of our bags in the outside hallway corridor hoping at the next stop someone would get off and then we could take their chair. About 2 hours into the ride, our prayers were answered and we got chairs. We rolled into Florence around 7am, and by now we were all beat. Everyone sat in silence, just waiting for the connecting train to arrive so we could get to La Spezia to get to our hostel, to get to a bed to rest our weary heads.

Eventually, the connecting train arrived and we were then dropped off at Pisa. Our next train was leaving in 10 minutes, but the following train wasn't supposed to leave for another hour, so we decided as long as we were in Pisa, we might as well go see the Leaning Tower that everyone seems to talk about. We took a taxi to the area, ran to the tower, ran back to the taxi, and was back at the train station within 20 minutes. Unfortunately, our first train had already left, so we waited for the next train going to La Spezia. When the train came, we simply hopped on, paying no attention to what kind of train it was, if it was a local train or high-speed train. Quickly though, we came to understand that we were on a nice high speed train and our tickets were not valid on this train. The stewardess gave me two options: 1. pay the difference, which would have been something obscene like 45 euro per person, or 2. we could get off at the next stop free of charge and wait for the next regular train heading our way. Obviously, we chose the latter.

The Leaning Tower of Pisa

I'm pushing it back up!

Other leaning buildings in Pisa

 When we got off the train, we looked around to realize we were in some sort of podunk town in Italy. Since it was still raining and we had a long time to wait, we decided to go inside the waiting area. At first we talked about drinking to pass the time then we thought that made us sound like alcoholics and by now it was only 9am, far too early to start drinking! Instead we passed the time by playing cards and eating chocolate. Our surroundings were quite scary though, it reminded me of something that you would imagine in seeing in a creepy carnival fun house. There was a giant Obama head. Yes, there was in fact, a giant plaster sculpture of President Obama's head. It only got weirder the longer we stayed there. Midway through our card game, the bartender came up to our table and started tapping away on his metal tray, just rapping his fingers and trying to give his commentary of the game. But since he spoke Italian, that whole conversation scene was not working out to well. Finally, after what seems like days of being in this creepy place we left. And by we left, I mean Maisah and I got on the train with Kelly and Christy's stuff, while the others were in the bathroom. Eventually, we all met up at La Spezia to enjoy a superb time in Cinque Terre.