We left Cinque Terre and headed to Pisa where Aaron was flying back to London and I was catching a train to meet my mom in Bologna. That morning, we had heard that there was a Italian train strike for 24 hours. When we arrived at the station, while a few trains were cancelled, ours was luckily still scheduled just delayed by 45 minutes.
We arrived into Pisa and jumped into a cab with our bags - "Take us to the Leaning Tower of Pisa, pleasa!" We had lunch and took our classic "I'm holding up the tower" poses.
How did it get it's signature tilt?
Originally it was supposed to be a bell tower for the cathedral next to it. After building the first three floors, the tower began to lean because it was built on a clay mixture that was unable to support the weight. They stopped construction and another 100 years passed before they restarted it, adding an additional four floors. The additional floors were also supposed to correct the tilt, but they made an error that caused it to lean even more. When it was complete, they decided to add walkways underneath so you could see how it was built, but they hit a water pipe causing the ditches to flood which added to the tilt even more! Mussolini thought the tower was an embarrassment so he ordered it to be corrected. Holes were drilled and cement was poured in which was supposed to firm up the side and re-correct the lean, but... you guessed it... the weight caused it to lean even more.
The tower took over 800 years to be constructed- just let it lean already!
I've actually been to the tower before - twice. Once with my family and another time while I was studying abroad. Both times we just passed through the city because there really isn't that much to do or see besides it.We left the tower and walked back to the train station. When we arrived, my train read "cancelled." Scanning down the list, we saw there was another train leaving in 40 minutes - it had more stops along the way which meant I would miss my connection in Florence but at least I would get out of Pisa. Five minutes before that train was supposed to leave, it read "cancelled." There were no other trains departing for Florence that day.
So we hustled to the airport to see if flying or renting a car was an option for me. By then, I was starting to panic. I had no working cell phone and I hadn't heard from my mom to see if she made it to Bologna okay. My mom and I were supposed to rent a car the next day and it was in my name. Aaron was telling me, "It's okay, we'll just get you a hotel in Pisa for the night." Pisa? Oh, pleasa! I don't want to stay in Pisa!
At the airport there was a person selling tickets for a bus to Florence. So I tearfully kissed Aaron goodbye and asked him to make sure that whatever he did, he got a hold of my mom to let her know that I had no working cell phone and what the situation was. Then I hopped on the bus, not knowing if I'd be able to get from Florence to Bologna, but at least knowing that I was getting out of Pisa.
Aaron let my mom know, and thankfully, although I'd missed my specific train, the trains from Florence to Bologna were still running so I was able to meet my mom. It's funny how train travel is so easy... until it's not. And sometimes you run into situations where you need to make it up as you go. Travel is trial and error, but then you learn from it. Luckily for us, I plan ahead but also panic, and while Aaron doesn't prepare, he keeps a level-head. We make a good team!
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