Time for a little Pisa

 Just thirty minutes by train is Pisa, the home of the world-famous leaning tower, so we decided to take a day trip on this brisk but sunny day. 

Again purchasing the train tickets via the Trenitalia app was the way to go, as when we walked into the Lucca train station, it was hectic, with a couple of ticket machines not working and lines formed at the remaining and also at the manned booths. 

The journey on the train was uneventful but peaceful, looking at the Tuscan scenery unfolding in reverse as we went along.  Yes, to Katie's disgust, we were only able to get seats facing toward the back of the train, so, in essence, we were watching the scenery in reverse. Could this be classed as time travel? 

Pisa has two train stations, Pisa S. Rossore and Pisa Centro, allowing us to get off at one and have a single journey, not requiring us to backtrack. 

The area around the leaning tower was heaving, with many people having a public holiday today, Epiphany. The day when the three wise men visited the newborn Jesus Christ. (or something like that)

Katie was able to perform the ritual photo along with about a thousand others.  We were able to get access to the Baptistry and also hear the amazing acoustics. Each half hour, a singer comes in and sings for about 60 seconds, allowing us to hear how well the sound reverberates in the structure. Well worth entering and waiting for the top or bottom of the hour.

From here, it was across the square to the church, well worth entering for the superb mosaics. This church has now created two entrances, one for us just wanting a visit, giving only access to the area near the main doors, and the other for people wanting to have silent prayer enabling them to access the remainder of the magnificent structure. 

We were both feeling hungry at this time and a little claustrophobic from all the people. We passed by Subway (yes, the sandwich place) and headed closer to the Arno River for some lunch.  This time we didn't hunt out the best in town; we just wanted something simple, so we found a pizzeria and dined outside. 

 

Now away from the Leaning Tower, we were able to join in with the Epiphany celebrations, some children were entering a balloon and meeting Befana, who would give them chocolate. There were also markets still hanging over from Christmas.

We returned on the train back to Lucca, where at 6PM, writing this in our apartment, I can hear hundreds of people passing outside our window, all on the Passageanta, evening walk, which is when Italians walk to be seen and walk to see others. It is extra special tonight with the Public Holiday. For us, we have selected to cook some pasta in-house, may go to the Irish Pub for a drink and then will rest early as we have a train ride to our next destination, Bologna!

Lucca has been a wonderful place for us to visit, and here are some more pics that will show activities we may have written about. 

Ciao