Wednesday 18 November

It's a better night and no noisy neighbours. My phone cord finally died. It last much longer than expected. Thankfully I have an intact one ready to use. We eat breakfast and pack. Once checked out we walk to the train station and buy our tickets to Pisa. We have to wait about half an hour before the train leaves. It's only about 45 min to Pisa. It probably would have been more sensible to just take a day trip to Pisa and stay another night in Florence. Anyhow. The scenery was nice, I love how all the houses seem to be shades of the same colour. We have a bit of time so we buy our tickets for tomorrow. It's a nice walk to our b&b. it's quite dirty and smelly near the train station, but improved as we got closer. There were markets in a square and lots of cafés and food places down the streets. We get to our b&b but our host isn't quite there yet. We wait around and he isn't too late. They haven't yet serviced the rooms, but we are able to pay and leave our bags. We see a tiny lizard/gecko on the stairs! He looks so thin. Almost like a painting in the ground. Then off to the tower. It's impressive and well preserved. From the dirty streets, the area around the tower is amazing and restful with lovely lawns. And it's not alone. There is also a church and baptistery in keeping with what us in Florence! There is also a large hall that I think was used as shelter for the poor. Now there are also museums. We walk around, get our photos and eventually end up on the grass to eat lunch and relax. It's colder as the afternoon wears on. There are lovely walls framing the area. Definitely a high spot. I get a small pizza from a food truck on the way back to the b&b. There are again lots of Africans trying to sell their bracelets, selfie sticks and the like. They aren't all young either. I wonder what their story is. How they make it. we spend time booking what's next. I think there might be cool lighting on the tower so we take a walk back to the tower. Unfortunately the lighting isn't very nice at all. We walk around and check it out at night. Much quieter now.