Pisa in a Day

We left Manarola at about 9 plus in the morning and made our way to Pisa by train. We were told that a day trip to Pisa would be sufficient and found it to be true if you're just visiting the Piazza dei Miracoli (Square of Miracles).

We stopped at the Pisa S.Rossore Station, which is a short 5 minute walk to the Square of Miracles. However, we didn't realize this is a small station which does not have the facility of storing luggage. So we walked all the way with our backpacks (and embarrassed myself by stopping by the University of Pisa to ask if they had storage facility along the way) but it really wasn't far. If you want to leave your luggage at the train station, then the Pisa Centrale station is the one you should alight from.

Once we reached our destination, we noticed a place where you could leave your luggage (thank goodness!). We booked our tickets to climb the Leaning Tower of Pisa in advance through this website called tickitaly.com. As only a certain number of people are allowed in every half an hour, I booked our tickets way beforehand. We had to be at the location 15 mins before our scheduled climb to leave our bags at the counter before lining up to get in. No bags are allowed because of the unnecessary weight.

Buildings at the Square of Miracles

The base of the Leaning Tower

I always thought the tower was built before it began sinking but the tower had a strange banana shape. During the tour, we found out that the first 3 stories were built before the foundation began sinking on one side. The architect left it uncompleted. The second architect then built more levels above these 3 stories, trying to counter tilt it hence the strange banana shape. The third architect then added the top and bells.

View from the top of the Leaning Tower

I actually felt a little dizzy climbing the Leaning Tower and was glad to come down on level ground. The marble steps were very worn down from the sheer number of people who have climbed the tower.

Tip of the Leaning Tower

Of course there were heaps of folks taking shots like these for the Leaning Tower. They were quite funny to watch actually.

So we decided to do the same for the Baptistry as we felt it was sorely neglected despite being such a beautiful building too. And no, it is not leaning just in case you were wondering

We walked around the Square, went into the cathedral for a few peaceful moments before heading back to collect our backpacks and walk to the train station with a lot of time to spare. Our next stop was to Florence.