Pisa
Today was our only
DCL excursion. Actually, this day was one we went back and forth on several times.
Initially, we had talked about my parents going to Florence and DD and I hanging out in Livorno. There were several things in town that I thought would be interesting including a tour by boat. DH and I had been to Florence for our honeymoon, so I was interested to explore a new city. None of the adults were interested in going to Pisa again. When we went before we just found it crowded and super touristy. Plus, we had all said "huh, it really leans" already.
In the spring, DD's class studied Italy. In fact, the father of one of her classmates is actually from Italy! So, in the course of that study, she watched a video on the Leaning Tower and she asked to go. Well, when you're in the neighborhood, it seems ridiculous not to go. So we looked at options and I saw a great vlog from a med cruise last year of a young woman who took the Pisa excursion. (That's really what it's called: Pisa. No fun adjectives here!) The price was right and we knew it would be super easy. DD was not old enough (minimum age of 8) to climb so that was not a consideration.
Well now my parents had seen all the research I had done on Livorno and they decided that THEY would explore the town while DD and I went to Pisa. Well, ok!
The departure time for the excursion was 8:30. While this is not incredibly early, DD was definitely in vacation mode so she struggled a bit.
Here she is explaining to me that it is way too early for vacation. To be fair, I was tired too. For the first time ever, I could hear our neighbors and what I could hear was their alarm clock starting at 6:00. They hit snooze/ignored it for a looong time.
We had breakfast in Cabanas today. (See, I learned from my mistake in Pompeii!) Then we grabbed our tickets and headed to the Walt Disney Theater. We were offered ponchos but we had our good raincoats already.
DCL had contracted with Trumpy tours for this excursion.
When we boarded the bus, there were maps and headsets on each seat. Our bus guide made sure to test the headsets before we got off. She also did a great job of telling us about the area while we drove the 40 minutes. DD got a little nap in on the way. The sky was ominous
There is about a 10 minute walk from where the bus parks to the Square of Miracles. Right before entering the square, we stopped at a place where there were free toilets for those who needed them. Sadly, lots of people needed them. (This is one of those things that makes private tours appealing: I'm not on anyone else's bathroom schedule.)
While we waited, we saw the little tourist train drive by.
A family in our cruise group did the tour that included this, but they were very disappointed in their experience. I had been tempted but I'm glad I didn't choose this option.
After just another couple minutes of walking, we arrived in the square and met our guide who would take us around the actual site.
Our site guide was awesome. She was from Pisa and not only knew a lot about the area but obviously took a lot of pride in the structures. She explained that the buildings represent birth, life, and death and that all the buildings lean. Pisa used to have canals like Venice and that soggy soil is what makes the buildings lean. (Pompeii also used to be a seaside town.) The tower itself is just a bell tower but is obviously the most famous. The tower has 7 bells, but now it uses a recording. This is for two reasons. First, the vibrations would further destabilize the tower. Second, no one wants to run up and down to ring the bells! Haha!
Our first stop was the baptistry (birth.) The accoustics in here are perfect and our tour was timed so that we are inside when the singers came in to demonstrate. What a remarkable thing to hear! If you don't have a trip planned, here is a YouTube that shows how amazing the sound is.
Next we headed to the church (life.)
The church is set up to allow for separate seating of men and women. When it was originally constructed, the area was very diverse and it was used for Christian, Jewish, and Muslim services so some groups had the need to separate the congregation.
The mosaics inside were amazing. It was also the festival that celebrated the patron saint of Pisa. The saint was on display and it was very cool that we were there at that time.
We then walked out of the church we were by the tower but not the best view. We headed to our meeting spot and given about 45 minutes of free time. First , we headed back to the tower to take photos from the "good side." I think some people also went to see the graveyard (death.)
DD and I took our own and we also met up with the ship photographer. (That was one advantage of doing the tour through DCL.)
After we took pictures, we headed to a cafe for Gelato, wine, and bathrooms. The prices were a bit high but not outrageous.
The bathrooms carry a fee but it is waived for cruise passengers. Ship passengers also get a discount in the shop. At least 1 maybe 2 more cruise groups arrived while we were eating our snack.
After our snack, we met up with the tour (everyone was on time) and we walked back. During the walk, the skies went from ominous to a torrential downpour. Luckily, we had our good raincoats. I will say that the walk back was quite a bit quicker.
The drive back was fine and we all had bottled water on the bus. Our bus tour guide taught DD some Italian while we drove. It was very fun. Less than an hour later we were back in time for lunch!
This tour was perfect for us. DD got to see the things she was learning about in school and I actually got to see and learn about some things I didn't before. The whole thing was easy. The timing was also great. DD stayed engaged the whole time, and we definitely did not need more time on our own.
Next Up: Pirate Night