Pisa, it leans!

On the last day of our mini whirlwind tour of tuscany, Rosa and I took the train back through the region and up to the city of Pisa, known most notably for its tower that leans. or maybe it's more notable for the millions of pictures tacky tourists take (me too, me too!) of themselves 'catching' the 'falling' tower. We had most of the day to burn before a 7pm Ryanair flight and spent most of the time taking stupid pictures, freaking out about the marathon, shopping for shoes and trying to find dinner, which proved far more difficult than we thought.
first glimpses





Other than the tower, Pisa seemed like a city forgotten by time. You could tell that it was one day loved, but between the influx of tourists and immigrants and the collapse of major infrastructural necessities, Pisa was grotty and run down. Lots of smells and rubbish. There were some attempts at regeneration, which it will hopefully receive because Pisa did have its raffish charm. One of our highlights was this super cute cafe:

And of course there was also the three minute ride on the train from the city centre to the airport and the weird Pisan culture phenomenon of free snacks at bars leading up to the dinner rush. It was odd. Restaurants don't serve dinner until like 8. Like none of them. But instead all of the bars opt to serve a high end buffet of starters and hot snacks that rival any Hornsey School parents' evening snack selection. Which, okay honestly doesn't take much, but we're talking bruschetta and fondue and vegetables and pate. You order a drink and you snack for free. These Italians have got something right.

And then we boarded a plane into the future where marathon glory and pain awaited.