Paul and I departed from Florence on the train with ample time to make our flight in Pisa. We’d heard horror stories about the Italian rail system, so we decided to give ourselves a little extra time. Luckily we gave ourselves too much time, so we had a few hours to kill walking around the city.

We were treated to a lot of touring, beautiful churches, and fancy restaurants over the course of our 10 day stay in Italy, but we enjoyed our brief stint in Pisa the most. Despite it’s world famous tower, the city seemed to have fallen of the Tuscan tourist radar. Paul and I fell in love with the city immediately.

We finally felt like we were in Italy! Even when we traveled to Florence and Siena we felt like we were in a petri-dish of tourism, regardless of how laid back my family was and how beautiful the architecture/sights were. In Pisa we actually heard people speaking Italian while we walked through the city. It felt like a place where people actually live.

After eating gelato we headed over to see the leaning tower. The tower and cathedral are situated on a open field of grass. It seemed like a lovely place to kick back and have a picnic with your family, which is exactly what many people were doing—tourists and non-tourists alike.

Paul and I parked ourselves on the grass and took it all in. We loved the architecture in Pisa and the buildings’ imperfections made them even more charming. Many of the churches in Florence were so beautiful and awe-inspiring that they verged on forbidding.

All in all, our afternoon in Pisa was a laid back good time. Watching the other tourists enact “Photo-op Tai Chi” in which many people simultaneously angled to get a cheesy shot of kicking or holding the leaning tower was by far the high point of the trip.