It was a long day today.
But, before I forget... we had a visit from the tooth fairy that morning! Apparently, the going rate for a tooth in Europe is €2 -- because that's what Elodie found under her pillow.
After the early morning forced march to the car we drove to Pisa. I'd bought advanced tickets for climbing the tower. Since Elodie was too young, we split into two groups at 12:15pm and 1:00pm. Due to a later than planned start and a wrong turn walking through Santa Croce, we didn't actually hit the highway until 8:30am. Factor in a short car sickness stop and I was worried that we were going to have to forfeit some tower climbing spots. TomTom said it was a 3:22 drive and we had to park and get to the tower.... What's a vacation without a little stress? I was on a mission!
It was close. We got to the parking lot at 11:45. I almost left the tickets I so carefully printed back in Copenhagen back in the car. Charlie and I had to jog through the Piazza dei Miracoli to get there on time, but we made it. It was a personal triumph. Fifteen years ago, Laura and I were here, but the tower was closed then. I felt Italy owed me a climb up that tower!
I'll be honest. I don't like Pisa. Most of the town seems pretty trashy. The only reason to go there is for a famous construction defect. I'm pretty sure I don't need to visit Pisa again... or at least not for another 15 years.
Of course, besides climbing the tower, we did take our series of cheesy holding up the tower pictures. Naturally.
We did go in the Duomo. That was beautiful inside.
Pisa checked off our list. Fortified with some more gelato. We hopped back in the car and drove the 90 minutes to Monterosso al Mare. Walking back to the car, we spotted one reason why Charlie, at least, might want to come back to Pisa.
I can see why people avoid driving to Cinque Terre. It's not easy to get to at all by car. We finally met our host at the agreed upon gate and he led us up a dirt and gravel road to an olive orchard. In the middle of which was a stone guest house that is to be our home for the next 3 nights. My window has a coastal view of all five of the Cinque Terre towns: Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore.
After settling in, we walked down to town in search of dinner. We discovered that our expectation to eat at 6:00pm hasn't made it to Monterosso al Mare yet. 6:00pm is an obscenely early dinner time by Italian standards. To be fair, it HAD been a long day and we really hadn't stopped for a meal at all. Nevertheless, we had to wait until 7pm for the restaurants to open. I guess in a way, that's a good thing. It gave us a chance to explore the town a little before eating.
Unfortunately, despite some good reviews on TripAdvisor and a recommendation from our host, the restaurant we ended up at, La Barcaccia, was a disappointment. Poor and rude service, mediocre food. In retrospect, we should have just had pizzas off the menu here. We'd tried to be adventurous and order off the the daily specials... but what the locals do is just stop by and grab a pizza to go. I think the "pizzeria" on the sign should have been a clue.
Oh well, we were tired and hungry enough that we almost didn't care. I do have to say that it was no struggle to tip like a European when it was time to go, however.
We walked back up to guest house in the olive orchard above town and resolved to do better tomorrow.
