The main destination for this trip was Albania. And to get there from Toulouse, the easiest connections were from either Paris or Pisa. So we decided to fly to Florence and take the train to Pisa – about an hour away.
It was a short flight to Florence where we were supposed to land at 18:00 but of course this leg didn’t quite go to plan. Departure was delayed about an hour by thunderstorms and the flight itself was a little bumpy. It was raining heavily when took the tram from the airport to the main train station. Only after buying tickets to Pisa, did we find out ALL the trains to Pisa were cancelled tonight. We were taking the train, because I already knew, the last bus had gone. The next day we found out that the disruptions were due to a strike by train staff.
But having a hotel booked in Pisa, and no way of getting there, threw another spanner in the works. The 1st option was to see if any of the hotels near the station had a vacancy. I left Andrew standing in the station hall nice and dry and in charge of guarding the suitcases. Meanwhile I walked up the street from the station, in the pouring rain, checking the various hotels. Of course, due to the rain and the strike – nothing was available. So it was back to the station and onto the internet booking engines and we had a hotel room a few minutes walk from the station. Andrew was just happy he wasn’t going to have to sit in the station all night.
Next morning, the sun was shining and we got on an early train to Pisa. We left our bags in storage at a cafe near the station. From there it was a nice walk to the site of the Leaning Tower. It was so good to be there earlier than most of the crowds. Andrew took a while to understand how the photos of holding the tower worked, so there were more than a few lame attempts. Maybe the fault lies with my instructions, but I don’t think that was the main problem.
We went up the tower, visited the Bapistry and the Campile before waiting in a long line to visit the cathedral.
It was a good use of the morning before some pasta and then out to the airport for our trip to Tirana, Albania.
