Out With Erin

Feeling a little sad this morning, as we boarded the train and said goodbye to our favourite little town, Riomaggiore. On route to or next destination, we planned for a few hour stop over in Pisa.

Getting off the train, we realized how nice it was to be by the water as the good old hot weather was right back at us. We dropped our bags off in storage for the day, and headed into town to explore all that Pisa had to show us.

It’s been awhile since we’ve seen cars so that was an interesting feeling right away. We crossed the Arno River and immediately were in one of Pisa’s many piazzas, Piazza Girabaldi.

Continuing along the pedestrian only streets, we strolled around to the old city walls.

This street led us straight to The Field of Miracles, which includes several beautiful historical buildings, and of course, the Leaning Tower is Pisa.

The tower itself was surprisingly smaller than I had imagined, but it’s definitely leaning! Apparently in the early 2000s it underwent extensive restoration as it was on the brinks of a potential collapse.

As we were making fun of everyone posing and being ridiculous, we figured we might as well join in on the fun. When in Rome, right, oh still not yet.

We wandering around the area for quite some time, trying to avoid the heat and crowds, and then decided to head for lunch. We walked away for the Field of Miracles area, more into the historical centre and found a gem of a restaurant. We began with the bruschetta, which was insane with the ripe tomatoes and dripping olive oil.

Next, we had a four cheese gnocchi, which also was very cheesy and tasty.

Finally, we ended with a pizza, made right in front of us in a wood burning stove. The perfect lunch!

Continuing our travels in Pisa, we passed through the streets, the many piazzas, the monuments, a garden: there was just so much to see!

As the heat we getting to us, we stopped for a final little drink before heading back to the train station on route to Florence!

Once arriving in Florence, we got ourselves situated at our new B&B, and then ventured out to check out the food at the local market. There are over 40 different restaurants and places where you can buy insanely fresh food. It’s almost like a super high end cafeteria.

We began our dinner with a cheese and meat platter and a glass of red. Wow!

Next, we order the spaghetti alla carbonara.

Perfect way to end a day of traveling!