European Vacation Day 2 – Milan to Rome via Pisa

Today did not quite go to plan.

Got up a little hung over and had breakfast. Checked the train times to Pisa with reception who confirmed the only direct train would leave Milan at 1200 and get to Pisa at 1700. We had to get a train from Pisa to Rome at 1700. There was a train at 1100 that had one change and arrived at 1500, so we decided to go for that and took a tram then the Metro to Centrale Station. The station was amazing, massive and inside looked like it was all made of marble. J said it was just like Bayonetta. Waited ages in a queue only to be told that our train was full, but there was a fast train to Florence at 1100, where we would change for Pisa. It was about 60% more expensive than the other train but we had no choice. The train was packed so we had to sit in the corridor for 2 hours, not great with a hangover. We never left Florence station so I don’t think I can count it as a place I’ve visited! As it was a fast train we got in to Pisa by 1400.

The Duomo and the Tower

During my research I had noted that the leaning tower was just a couple of hundred metres from the train station. Arriving in Pisa I quickly discovered there were 2 stations in town, and the tower was near the other one. We took the leisurely ½ hour stroll across town to the tower. Despite having seen it on TV and in books, I was amazed at how much it leans! It felt quite surreal to be standing close to something so famous and it seemed a lot smaller than I expected. We did the obligatory “pretend to lean against/push the tower” pictures (along with everyone else!), then strolled back to the station. We went to McDonalds in Pisa keeping up our record of going to McDonalds in every country we have ever visited. [This record would soon be broken.]

Leaning on the Leaning Tower

Not in shot - 50 other people doing the same thing

Then on to Rome. The trains all day were excellent, and by the time we got to Rome, hangover was long gone. We found our accommodation, at the fantastically named Accommodation Planet 29 (I chose it because of the name) and then went out for dinner. The bruschetta was amazing, but both pizzas were pretty bland. We went to a convenience store for some supplies and were met by the bizarre sight of a shelf full of bottles of Tennents Super – I didn’t even know it came in bottles! Perhaps the Italians regard it as a delicacy.

So although things didn’t go to plan, it all worked out in the end. We’re meeting up with the tour tomorrow, which will be an interesting experience. It’s a shame we didn’t get a chance to see any sights in Milan (I had really wanted to visit the San Siro) so we’ll need to go back some time as it looked like a really nice city.