Pisa, a little of piece of Italy

On November 1st at 6am, Jesse and I flew out of London to the first stop on our latest adventure. We arrived to blue skies and gelato in Pisa, marking the 1st of a 24 day train trip around Europe. We saw the Leaning Tower of Pisa from the airplane after flying over the snow-capped Alps and flying across the great blue of the Adriatic Sea, and couldn't wait to stand beneath it's marble columns. The airport provided a bus shuttle that moved everyone 30 feet from the plane to the terminal. It was the shortest bus trip we've ever taken. We walked all the way from the airport to the Leaning Tower, stopping only for gelato and to take a picture of a statue missing a bit of stonework from what we think was a cannon shot at its base. We could see the Leaning tower from quite a distance away, and it took a while to figure out just how big the tower was due to its position in the courtyard of the Duomo of Pisa. When we got there, we were gobsmacked to learn that we could actually climb the Tower and so, after purchasing a ticket and ditching our bags at the luggage drop, we climbed on up. As we ascended the stairs, our centers of gravity would shift depending on which side of the tower we were walking upon. The top offered views of tile-roofed villas and centuries old walls--it was truly a sight to behold. After sneaking a quick lick to one of the bells, we were finally forced to descend with the rest of the people from our tour group. Before heading off to find dinner, Jesse ran and bought cheese so that he could fulfill a life-long dream of eating cheese in front of national monuments around Europe. For dinner, we found a near-by restaurant and ate pizza and drank wine like true grown-ups before catching the next train to Florence for the night. Thus concluded our first day in Italy.