Weekend in Tuscany Part Three: Pisa

Video
After Florence, the plan was to go to Pisa, just long enough to see the leaning tower and perhaps a couple of other things, then return to Venice from there. It was a good plan. Unfortunately, when we returned to the hostel Saturday evening, we discovered a sign posted, warning of a train strike the next day. When we went to the train station in the morning, no one was working at the ticket windows. We all have Eurail passes, but for some reason it was necessary to make a reservation for the trip between Venice and Florence. I’m not sure if we couldn’t make a reservation for the return trip in Venice or if we just didn’t think of it at the time, but now there was no way to do so. To complicate matters, there was no way of knowing for sure which of the regional trains would run as scheduled and which would be canceled. There were no trains between Florence and Pisa or Pisa and Venice. This was enough to deter two members of our group; they booked the first train back to Venice and went straight there. Perhaps they were the smart ones. The remaining four of us exhibited typical American stubbornness: we had planned to visit Pisa and we were going to do it. This was easier said than done. The train people said there were no trains, only buses, and the bus people said there were only trains. We went back and forth for awhile until we finally found a different bus place. For €6,10 we bought bus tickets to Pisa. We would have to change buses in Lucca, but still, that part was fairly easy. The bus ride was long, and except for a bout with motion sickness, not unpleasant. Tuscany has some great scenery.

Once we reached Pisa, however, things became a little more complicated. First, we couldn’t buy a bus ticket straight to Florence. We would have to go to Lucca again and buy a ticket for the second leg of the trip there. Second, buses ran every hour up to 3:45, then the next one would be at 5:00. Considering the length of the trip, we would have to be on the 3:45 bus in order to reach Venice before the last vaporetto to San Servolo, and that was assuming we would be able to get a train once we returned to Florence. We had very little time in Pisa. We walked straight to the tower, fighting light rain and gusts of wind that made it difficult to use umbrellas. The worst part was when we had to cross a bridge; with no buildings to block the wind, we were nearly blown over. We reached the tower, bought tickets to go inside, and stored our bags and umbrellas in lockers, and by the time we got back outside, it was pouring.
We ran to the tower. We had a roof over our heads as we climbed the steps, but the wind howled down the spiral staircase and rain got in from the top and through the windows. The climb was slippery, and half the time it seemed as if the tower might finally topple over. When we reached the top, there was no more roof. We took pictures in driving rain while the wind threatened to blow us over or at least sweep away our cameras, glasses, scarves, or what have you. Our umbrellas were far away in lockers, but they wouldn’t have done us any good. We weren’t allowed to go all the way around the tower; there was a danger someone would fall off, despite the railing. Finally, police came up to kick everyone off. We were the last group that got the climb the tower.

After that, we ran to the duomo, looked around for a couple of minutes, then ran outside to pose for pictures with the tower in the background. We had wanted some typical tourist photos, posing as if we were holding the tower up and whatnot, but no one was inclined to linger long enough for anything fancy in that rain. After that, we ran to the gift shop and quickly purchased souvenirs, and then we ran back to collect our bags. By then we had about half an hour to reach the bus station. We were already thoroughly drenched, but we didn’t want to try walking back in that rain and decided to take a taxi instead. We ducked into a hotel, and the man at the desk was kind enough to call us a cab and let us use the bathroom while we waited. The ride in the taxi was terrifying, and I have no idea how the driver managed to avoid killing someone, but we reached the bus station with time to spare.
An hour or so later, we had dried out a little but were still wet and cold, and we arrived in Lucca. Purchasing a ticket to Florence was no problem, but we had about an hour to wait. We found our way, still walking in rain, which had lessened but never stopped, to a small cafe. Because of the time constraints in Pisa, we hadn’t eaten lunch, so we were starving. We were also freezing. As a result, the warm sandwiches we bought tasted absolutely incredible. We lingered in the cafe, drying and thawing, then braved the weather again to go back and wait for our bus. On the way to Florence, we were able to hang up our jackets and take off our wet shoes, and the bus was wonderfully warm.

In Florence, we were lucky enough to find a train to Venice. It was expensive, since we couldn’t use our Eurail passes, but it would get us back in time. We had a while to wait, so we were able to help out some confused Australian tourists and get a snack at McDonald’s. After we boarded the train, the worst was behind us, but the journey would not be over when we reached Venice. Once there, we still needed to take a vaporetto from the train station to San Zaccaria, and then one from there to San Servolo. Although the strike was scheduled to end at 9:00, we were still worried it might affect the vaporetto schedules. Luckily, they were running as usual and we finally made it back to our island home away from home around 1:00 in the morning. Dry clothes have never felt so good.