Pisa and Pictures

First, pictures. I have uploaded pictures from Siena, as well as those from our day in Pisa and evening in Florence. I haven't added comments yet, but I will soon. I have also added the links to the pages on the left, and I will add additional links whenever I have new albums available. I will let you know when new pictures go up and you can just click the link.

On to Pisa. We woke up at about 830, were ready to go by 930, and got stuck waiting for Andrew. Who knew a boy could take longer to get ready than me. Anyway, we ended up leaving the Villa around 955 for the 10am bus, and after booking it up the hill, we still missed it. So we spent an enjoyable 15 minutes exploring the farmers market of sorts happening near the bus stop, Lee Catherine bought some earrings for a friend, and we caught the next bus down to the train station. Amazingly enough, we caught the 1057 train, and off we went to Pisa.

On this trip was Lee Catherine, Pat, Andrew, and myself. It was a good, relaxed, and fun group, so it was a good, fun, and relaxed trip. We got into Pisa in about an hour, so I got some reading done on the train. Then once we got there we were starving, so we wandered into a cafe because, as Andrew noted, "The furniture looked nice." Bad choice. The waitress was crazy, and we have a whole mayonnaise story about the meal, which explains Lee Catherine looking down disgustedly at her plate in the Pisa pictures. In any case, after the meal, we meandered our way through the city and made our way to the Piazza dei Miracoli, or Square of Miracles, where the Cathedral, Crypts, Baptistry, and famous Leaning Tower of Pisa all reside. We took the requisite pictures leaning on the Tower, and then bought our tickets to get into the famous places. We wanted to climb the Tower, but the earliest reservation was for almost 5, and we wanted to be back in Florence by then. So, no climbing of the Tower, which I am sure we were all secretly relieved about considering how much we had climbed the day before.

So off we went to the Crypts, where I had never been. It is kind of spooky as they have interred people in the ground. Basically, you are walking on dead people. Never a cool thought to have. We decided to have fun with it all though, and imitate some of the statues. And let me tell you, there were some fun statues. I particularly liked the ones with books, but didn't really copy those. We also noticed some of those interred had died within the past couple years, so that was kind of creepy. They are restoring the artwork in the Crypt as well, so that was kind of fun to see.

After the Crypts we went to the Baptisty and the Cathedral. I have been to both before, so I wandered a bit, took the requisite pictures, and basically took a rest as the others explored in more detail. Once they were done we made our way out of the Square of Miracles, where I stopped to get a silly touristy bag that actually zips closed, and Lee Catherine picked up a leaning shot glass. As we were leaving we passed a guy selling forks as bracelets, who showed is that they are usable when one goes on a picnic and forgets a fork. Right.

We of course stopped for some gelato and espresso, and then took our time back to the train station. On the train, Lee Catherine and I did some reading, while Andrew and Pat watched a couple episodes of How I Met Your Mother on my ipod. They shared the earphones and laughed at the sam things, which Lee Catherine and I thought was cute.

After arriving back in Florence we called some of our other friends from the Villa to come down and meet us, and while we were waiting we went to get some more coffee (not me of course :-) ), and find a free bathroom. Luckily, I remember a free one from my last time here, so that was nice. Then I took the little group the market and Boar made out of a melted Siena bell, and finally to Ponte Vecchio. We walked across it, took some pictures, and were on our way to find a place to relax when I saw a super cool piece of art being sold. However, I didn't want to pay 15 euro, so I pointed it out to Lee Catherine and kept walking. The guy followed me saying he would sell it for 10 euro, which was still too much to my thinking, as I wasn't planning on buying anything. Then he went down to 6 euro and I couldn't resist. After all, over half off? Who am I to say no to that? Anyway, its pretty cool and I think it will be nice on my wall in my new apartment...wherever that may be (but thats another story).

So we continued on our way, got Andrew and Pat some gelato, and then relaxed in the Loggia in Piazza della Signorina while waiting for the others to arrive. Andrew and Pat got kicked out for eating in the Loggia, but came back once they had finished. Then, of course, the others called to tell us they had arrived. So we met a the Duomo and decided to wander and find a ristorante off the beaten path to avoid the tourists. Mission accomplished, we found one.

Now there were seven of us, the original 4 plus Olivia, Aaron, and Kel. We ordered two pitchers of wine, and lots of appitizers, and a variety of first courses, second courses, salads, pizzas, etc. One would think that with all of that, m plain pasta dish would be easy. Not so much. They sent it out twice in a broth after explicitly asking for only olive oil. Sad for me. But anyway, it was tasty once they got it right. Also, the company was good, so after eating and chatting from730-1030, we finally headed out. We went back to that first gelateria because Lee Catherine really wanted some of that gelato, but it was closed. So we found another, and then made our way back to the bus stop and from there, home. I was able to lead everyone around all day again, which was fun. All in all, it was a good day in every possible way.

I still need to share about Sunday's wine tasting, but that will have to wait for another time.

I have to give my academic fact of the day, which is that 1958 was known as the National Geophysical Year, to study space and Antarctica. We actually learned a lot about Antarctica today, like the fact that 7 countries have claims there: UK, NZ, Australia, Norway, Chile, Argentina, and France. Oddly enough, the US and Russia do not. Interesting stuff.

Anyway, I think that is enough for tonight as it is 1230 and I do have more class tomorrow. So good night, enjoy the pictures, captions are coming, and love to all!