The Leaning Tower Of Pisa

If you tell your friends that you’re going to be in Tuscany (which you should) and if they know that Pisa is in that region (which they may not), the first question they’ll ask is whether you saw the leaning tower of Pisa. If you say yes, the only followup question will be whether you took a cheesy tourist photo of yourself holding up the tower. After that, all interest in the town of Pisa wanes. If you say that you didn’t go to Pisa, they’ll ask why, and you’ll have to explain yourself. Literally, the only reason why I went to Pisa was to avoid that line of questioning, but I’m glad I went.

Located a quick one hour train ride from Florence, Pisa lies almost due west of Florence, and was a major port city in Italy. This position of prominence gave it quite a bit of power during various eras of history, but also led to conflict with neighboring towns. But you’re not reading this blog to get a history lesson; that’s what Wikipedia is for. You’re here to know what to do in Pisa.

Ask anyone, and they’ll tell you that there’s not much to do in Pisa. Most group tours allocate less than a few hours in Pisa before moving on to another town that may be more interesting. But the tower is the thing to see. Normally, I’d advocate downloading a copy of the Google Map of Pisa to your phone so you can find your way around, but Pisa is really easy. As you’re leaving the train, listen for people not speaking Italian. Find a few who are traveling light; maybe they’re carrying just a purse or a daypack. Ignore the people with all of their luggage, since they’re probably going to their hotel. Once you’ve found the right people, follow them. About half of the passengers on the train got off and made a beeline to the tower, so it was just a matter of following the herd.

When you leave the train station, go straight. You’ll pass a fountain, some restaurants, and cross a very nice bridge. You’ll pass more stores. Eventually, the road more or less ends. Turn left. You’ll pass more restaurants and black market vendors selling everything from fidget spinners to knockoff Coach bags. Keep walking. Soon, you’ll see the tower peeking out from behind the other buildings. It’s about a mile from the train station, so it’s a fairly easy 20 minute walk (or 2400 steps, if you’re a FitBit addict). Take a moment to look at the tower and all of the tourists posing in the standard pose. Laugh at them. Then strike the pose for your own photo. You kind of have to do it. There are several old and beautiful buildings near the tower, which means that you can stand in one spot, spin around, and see everything that Pisa has to offer. Hang out near the tower for a little while and kill some time, since it would be ridiculous for you to leave after having been there for only 10 minutes. Try not to check your watch too often. Once you’re thoroughly bored, walk back to the station and catch a train to Florence. Interestingly, there’s an express train to Florence that gets you home faster than the ride to Pisa. I guess there’s more demand to leave Pisa quickly than there is to get there. But then you’re back in Florence with photos of the tower, and it only cost you about 20€ in train fare and half a day to avoid the awkward conversations about why you didn’t go to Pisa.

It’s a good thing I was there to stop it from falling further! Whew!

Quick side note: Bread in Florence is baked without salt. The reason is that Pisa decided, way back in the day, that they wanted to cut back on the amount of salt that was going to Florence, since they (Pisa) was the major port through which a lot of salt was brought into the country. Florentines compensated for the new policy by making bland bread. They still make the bread without salt because of tradition, although they use plenty of salt in the rest of their cooking. If you ask a Florentine why there’s no salt in the bread, they’ll answer, “Because Pisa sucks.” There’s no love lost between the two cities, even today. I guess it’s kind of like Manhattan versus Hoboken.