Day 21

Today was our free day. We hung around the hotel, slept in and relaxed until about noon. Then a small group of us decided to go to Pisa! We went to the train station, got our tickets, and got something quick to eat. Then as we were sitting on the train about 10 mins before it was to leave one of the girls realized she left her purse where we were eating. She ran off the train to get it. We were trying to decide if we should get off the train or if she would make it in time when the doors suddenly shut and locked. We still don’t know what happened to her… we got back and everybody was at a pub to watch the football games, I know she’s find but I wonder if she ever did find her purse and all that.

After that we got to Pisa. There is nothing there, it’s a very run down city and as you’re walking along a deserted side street you suddenly come across the green patch of grass and you turn around a corner and there it is, the leaning tower! It was very cool… we decided to pay the 15 euro to climb to the top (way expensive but considering that’s all there is to do there it’s worth it). As you are walking up you can feel the tower tilting, you start walking slightly sideways, and then leaning forward, then sideways the other way, then backwards. It was so weird. We got to the top and you are literally on top of the tower. There is just a railing to keep you from going over the edge. It was ridiculous. It was a great view though and to be able to say that I climbed to the top of the leaning tower of Pisa is great. It’s one of the 7 wonders of the world dontcha know! (By the way, I’ve decided that I HAVE to go to each of the 7 wonders at some point in my life.)

There is also a church and duomo there but we didn’t get to go in. They closed while we were in the tower. We went back to the station and got our tickets and came back to Florence. The four of us stopped for dinner before we came back to the hotel. I had the best lasagna I’ve ever had in my life. Usually you can taste/feel that you are eating a layered pasta dish, here the layers all blend together and it just melts in your mouth. It was so good. After that we got back and everybody was already at the pub. Two of the people I was with went to Piazza de Michelangelo to see a cool view of Florence and then went to the pub to join the others. One of the girls and I decided to hang out here and pack up and stuff. I’m not a football girl and after all the walking today I wasn’t really looking forward to walking up another huge hill to see Florence since we already saw it from on top of the tower the other day.

All in all today was a good day. I’m glad to just relax a little before we have a big travel day tomorrow. We leave for Venice at 8AM and the train ride is 2-3 hours. I’m excited though, I would love to spend another day in Florence and see more of it (like the other side of the river…) but Venice is going to be wonderful. Only 3 more days until I head back home too… I can’t believe this trip has gone this fast. It really has been a blink of an eye for me. It’s just insane. I am so incredibly glad that I did this, it has been a once in a lifetime experience and you learn so much about yourself and other people. It’s amazing.

That’s it I guess, I’ll probably head to bed soon here. It’s midnight. I think the second game just started or is about to start so it’ll probably be a while before the rest of the group comes back.

As always I love everybody and miss everybody and can’t wait to come back home in a few days. I hope everybody is well and keeping warm.

Lots of love,
Ashley