The Leaning Tower of Pisa

As soon as the train came to a stop, I leapt out of my seat with my bag clutched to my side. The doors slowly opened and we hurried out of the train to shuffle around the other travelers. We had arrived at the gorgeous city of Pisa in Italy on a beautiful October morning. We were excited to have arrived, but we knew we were on a tight schedule. We had just come from the cruise ship that we were traveling on. It would be docked for the next 10 hours which gave us a very specific and short amount of time to tackle two Italian cities in one day. The air was a little cold with rain clouds looming over our heads. You could sense a rushed feeling the band of foreigners that were now crowding the entrance of the station. We hoisted ourselves out the front door and reached the street. Within seconds a taxi driver pulled off to the side and we settled ourselves in the back of the car. I rolled down the window and felt the cold breeze on my face. I could hear the neighboring car engines buzzing and the soft sounds of rushing water from the canals. We reached the giant wall that encased the infamous Square of Miracles, which was our first destination. We thanked our driver and shut the door to the cab. We walked past more souvenir booths and made our way to the front gate. I pulled my camera out from my bag and took off the lens cap. I wanted to capture my first moment of turning the corner to see this European monument. Ever since I was little, I was familiar with the leaning tower and had dreamed of seeing it one day for myself. I feel like the tower became symbolic to me somehow. It seemed like the farthest place I could ever go, somewhere I'd never be able to reach. Look at me now, a fully grown adult doing something that childhood Nicole never thought would be possible!

I have heard from others who visited this location who weren't that impressed by any of it, but after we went through the gate which finally exposed this treasure of Pisa, I was in awe of the beautiful architecture in front of me. I couldn't focus on the beautiful artistry of the buildings. My eyes kept dancing around to the cathedral, baptistry and tower and back agin. I probably blocked the flow of walking traffic for a while to stare at all of the intricate designs of this beautiful landmark. People were littered across the lawn like colonies of ants. Friends were taking turns capturing the perfect photo of one another pretending to hold up such a heavy tower. Some people were getting even more creative with an empty ice cream cone and using the tower as a leaning swirl of vanilla ice cream. Multiple tours were sectioned out across the different entrances and lines were forming out of doorways. We meandered our way down the street watching people and snapping photos of our own. We only had an hour until we needed to leave to catch the next train to go to Florence. That was the city that my husband was most excited for. I knew we couldn't stay long, but we came all this way that I really wanted to get as much out of this experience as I possibly could. How could you not travel across the world and do something really memorable? Decisions were forming in my head and we had to choose what we wanted to do. I wasn't sure if I should pick the cathedral or the baptistry, but then I noticed groups of people going inside and exploring the top of the tower. That was it! That's what I wanted to do. The line seemed a little long but it also seemed like it was moving pretty quickly. Plus, who knows how long people will be allowed to tour the inside of the tower? Even though it is pretty well set in it's awkward angle due to the shift in foundation underneath, never say never, right? My husband knew how excited I was for Pisa, so he happily agreed to touring the tower with me.

We dropped off our bags in a lock box provided and bought our tickets for the tower and waited patiently in line. It didn't take long at all and soon we were one of the first people to make the trek up the stairs. The marble stairs were warped from millions of feet over so many years. I felt like I had a little bit of vertigo going up the stairs but held onto the surrounding brick walls to keep my balance. Little pockets of windows were placed what seemed like every floor the higher you went up. As soon as we reached the top you could see miles past the city. Colorful rooftops of houses and the roof of the cathedral is patchy and beautiful. There was a chain linked fence that surrounded the outer edge of the top floor that kept everyone safe. We walked around the entire boundary and touched the eroding bells around the tower. We snapped a few more photos and took in a few more breaths at the top. I felt so accomplished! We agreed that this would be one of our favorite memories to hold onto from this trip. After soaking up the scenes, we carefully made our way back down the stairs to allow the next group of seekers inside the tower. We made our way past the fountain and started heading back to the street. There was a souvenir cart a little past the tower. Like any devout tourist, I skimmed the entire cart and purchased a commemorative magnet to take home to my proud collection living on my fridge. I wrapped it up and stored it in a special pocket in my purse.