This past weekend the roommates and I decided to head northwest to Sienna and Pisa. We caught a bus to Sienna and spent the day there. Apparently, Tuscany is not a city, it's a region of Italy. Definitely didn't catch that one in 8th grade geography. But, I did learn I spent the past weekend in Tuscany without even knowing it! Sienna was absolutely gorgeous. Beautiful plains and amazing sunsets. Legit. I sadly didn't get any pictures of the landscape. I was too busy sleeping on the trains/bus/multiple forms of transportation.
While we were in Sienna, our first stop was food. It wasn't too exciting, but it was necessary to indulge before we attempted to travel anywhere else. Obviously, we needed to grab some gelato and then we could start our sightseeing. We visited the craziest church I have ever seen. It was massive and popped out of nowhere! Literally, turned a corner and saw pure beauty. Pictures just don't do it justice.
[creepy Madonna and child]
[massive Cathedral peeking around the corner....]
[...BAM, hello.]
[street art in almost every city]
After Sienna, we booked it to the bus station and caught a bus to the train station. Our train ticket to Pisa was really cheap, like 12 euros. We made it to Pisa within an hour. We had to take a bus outside the center of Pisa to our hostel. From our bus stop, we lugged our bags about 1 mile to our hostel, B&B Hostel Pisa. Now this was sketchy to me because the only knowledge I had of hostels, I had learned from horror movies. Probably not the most legitimate resource for information. Surprisingly, it was normal. Not sketchy. Not one ounce of fear. The hostel owner was a very fashionable little man, probably pushing 4'11". We got settled in and, once again, our innate sense of hunger kicked in. We found ourselves wandering Pisa at 9 pm looking for someplace willing to serve us dinner. Thankfully, we stumbled upon Tavern di Emma. It was a teeny, tiny restaurant. I mean so tiny, the six of us couldn't fit and we had to wait outside until people left. But it was far worth the wait. That has been, to date, the best meal I have had in
my life Italy. Great service. An extremely friendly chef. And our waitress was the absolute sweetest, helping translate the all-italian menu. We didn't get out of there until a little after midnight. Happy bellies meant a good night sleep for the following day in Pisa.
[Brit's first train ride]
[bread in a bag, what? don't underestimate. it was delectable]
[perfectly seasoned steak, hint of beef and lobster: best of both worlds. That's right Miley Cyrus]
[tiramisu for dessert and an owl in cocoa powder]
Alright, so the leaning tower, is even more leaning in real life. Pictures don't even make it look that bad, but it's ridiculous. Tourists are given the option to climb the tower for 15 euros, but I stinged out and enjoyed the view from outside the crooked bugger. There really is nothing else to do around Pisa except for the tower, duomo, and basilica. So, we found a place to eat. We chose a pizzeria,
original. We had some time to kill until our train back to Perugia. First choice to kill time, eat again. We stopped at the most adorable dessert and pastry shop. Then, explored and found an interesting sax player who thought "
english American rock and roll music was better, you know Elvis Presley" and preferred to tell jokes in broken English. He was quite the entertainer until it was time to leave.
[not so creepy hostel]
[crazy craze ceiling light]
[view from hostel window. yeah, we were that close]
[the early town of Pisa was walled in]
[attempt at the classic "tourist" picture]
[Sarah wasn't impressed with the workmanship]
[raspberry something? you just learn to point and say "Per favore, grazie."
[killing time with armless Bethany]
[may or may not have happily shamefully stopped at Mickey D's before our train home]
When we got back to Perugia, it was a settling feeling. It was home and a familiar place. Of course, sightseeing was great and visiting these places we've learned so much about, but Perugia has a sense of welcoming you back in a lovely way.
Did I mention Pisa doesn't smell the greatest? Don't get me wrong,
it is beautiful,
like everything else in Italy.
Ciao!
