We woke up in Riomaggiore a little before our alarm for 8:45 am and quickly got ready and packed our suitcases. We were out of the room before 10 am and went down to the cafe. We had been hearing trains stop at our station after waking up and that continued during breakfast so we wondered if the strike had been called off. We were done with breakfast by 10:20ish so we decided to sit at the train station to wait and see if our first train scheduled for 10:55 am would be operational. Much to our surprise, it arrived on time and thanks to the railway strike, not many passengers had turned up to the station so it wasn't too crowded either.
We reached La Spezia by 11:10 am and found out that our intercity train to Pisa scheduled to depart at 11:23 am had been cancelled due to the strike. We waited for the next train scheduled to depart at 12:15 pm which was going to be a regional train. The train didn't arrive at 12:15 pm but they kept announcing that it was delayed. It did arrive around 12:40 pm and we boarded with our suitcases, only to hear an announcement after a few minutes that it had also been cancelled due to the strike! After that, the next regional train to Pisa was for 1:14 pm but it was from a different platform so we went through the onerous task of going down the stairs, walking through the underground passage connecting all platforms and then taking the stairs up at the new platform. We boarded this train and waited, hoping that this wouldn't be cancelled last minute like the last one. Thankfully, it wasn't cancelled and we finally left La Spezia at 1:22 pm. We arrived in Pisa around 2:30 pm. Thanks to the note from the TrenItalia official that we got the previous day and some trains that were operational during the strike, all the strike cost us (not counting the inconvenience and panic) was a delay of a couple of hours from our original plan where we would've reached Pisa by 12:30ish.
At the Pisa train station, we stored our bags in paid baggage storage, got return tickets for the bus to the Leaning Tower area and then had lunch at a Kabab place. The chicken shawarma plate was quite tasteful and filling. Then it took us a few minutes to find our bus stop but we were on the bus by 4 pm and got off near the Leaning Tower after about 15 minutes. The walk from the bus stop to the so-called Field of Miracles has scores of souvenir shops so we passed through them and entered the complex.
The Field of Miracles is a gorgeous square carpeted with lush green grass that is extremely well maintained and there are a few white marble buildings around it - the Duomo, the Baptistry, the Cemetery and the Bell Tower. The Bell Tower is also famously known as the Leaning Tower of Pisa because of its slant. After the tower was constructed, once the building started settling down, it began sinking on one side because of softer soil. Since that day, they've used a very simple concept to prevent the building from collapsing - adding additional weight in the direction opposite to the slant. Of course, I have grossly over simplified it but even to this day, that's the essential principle in effect. After taking lots of pictures with the Leaning Tower, we took a gelato break since it was another hot day.
After that, we bought some souvenirs and then headed for the bus stop. We were at the bus stop at 5:45 pm but had to wait for the bus for about half an hour. Once we reached the station, we picked up our bags and checked the time for the next train to Florence or as its called in Italian, Firenze. The next train was scheduled for 6:54 pm and much to our relief, it left the station just two minutes late so we were on our way to Florence. It was a very peaceful ride after a tiring hot day where we had to spend a lot of time waiting. We admired the green countryside of Tuscany glowing in the evening sunlight as our train made its way to the birthplace of Renaissance. We reached Florence after a little over an hour around 8:10 pm. Our focus had been to get to first Pisa and then Florence and in that rush, we forgot to find the exact directions from the train station to our hotel - it was supposed to be walking distance. There was no free WiFi at the train station so we decided to go to the McDonald's across the road. While we were there, we also had chicken burgers for dinner. Ironically, the WiFi didn't work there either so we pulled out the pocket guide for Florence and Tuscany that we had purchased from Calgary. We have actually purchased 4 different pocket guides for this trip - Milan (and the Lake District), Florence (and Tuscany), Rome and London. It turned out that the square where our hotel was located was behind the square that was next to the train station.
Even after realizing that, it took us another fifteen minutes to get to our hotel because of the irregular presence of pedestrian crossings. Finally we checked in at 9 pm and then relaxed for a bit. It had been a hot day and tomorrow is an early start so we decided to take showers before going to bed. That's when we realized that the Airbnb experiment wasn't bad but it's not our thing. When we are traveling, we like to come back at night to a hotel that offers a luxurious experience. Our vacations are usually aggressively focused on exploration and sightseeing so what makes it relaxing for us is the luxury at the start and end of a day. Keep reading to find out about our exploration of Florence and the Tuscany region over the next 3 days. Take care and goodbye!
We reached La Spezia by 11:10 am and found out that our intercity train to Pisa scheduled to depart at 11:23 am had been cancelled due to the strike. We waited for the next train scheduled to depart at 12:15 pm which was going to be a regional train. The train didn't arrive at 12:15 pm but they kept announcing that it was delayed. It did arrive around 12:40 pm and we boarded with our suitcases, only to hear an announcement after a few minutes that it had also been cancelled due to the strike! After that, the next regional train to Pisa was for 1:14 pm but it was from a different platform so we went through the onerous task of going down the stairs, walking through the underground passage connecting all platforms and then taking the stairs up at the new platform. We boarded this train and waited, hoping that this wouldn't be cancelled last minute like the last one. Thankfully, it wasn't cancelled and we finally left La Spezia at 1:22 pm. We arrived in Pisa around 2:30 pm. Thanks to the note from the TrenItalia official that we got the previous day and some trains that were operational during the strike, all the strike cost us (not counting the inconvenience and panic) was a delay of a couple of hours from our original plan where we would've reached Pisa by 12:30ish.
At the Pisa train station, we stored our bags in paid baggage storage, got return tickets for the bus to the Leaning Tower area and then had lunch at a Kabab place. The chicken shawarma plate was quite tasteful and filling. Then it took us a few minutes to find our bus stop but we were on the bus by 4 pm and got off near the Leaning Tower after about 15 minutes. The walk from the bus stop to the so-called Field of Miracles has scores of souvenir shops so we passed through them and entered the complex.
The Field of Miracles is a gorgeous square carpeted with lush green grass that is extremely well maintained and there are a few white marble buildings around it - the Duomo, the Baptistry, the Cemetery and the Bell Tower. The Bell Tower is also famously known as the Leaning Tower of Pisa because of its slant. After the tower was constructed, once the building started settling down, it began sinking on one side because of softer soil. Since that day, they've used a very simple concept to prevent the building from collapsing - adding additional weight in the direction opposite to the slant. Of course, I have grossly over simplified it but even to this day, that's the essential principle in effect. After taking lots of pictures with the Leaning Tower, we took a gelato break since it was another hot day.
After that, we bought some souvenirs and then headed for the bus stop. We were at the bus stop at 5:45 pm but had to wait for the bus for about half an hour. Once we reached the station, we picked up our bags and checked the time for the next train to Florence or as its called in Italian, Firenze. The next train was scheduled for 6:54 pm and much to our relief, it left the station just two minutes late so we were on our way to Florence. It was a very peaceful ride after a tiring hot day where we had to spend a lot of time waiting. We admired the green countryside of Tuscany glowing in the evening sunlight as our train made its way to the birthplace of Renaissance. We reached Florence after a little over an hour around 8:10 pm. Our focus had been to get to first Pisa and then Florence and in that rush, we forgot to find the exact directions from the train station to our hotel - it was supposed to be walking distance. There was no free WiFi at the train station so we decided to go to the McDonald's across the road. While we were there, we also had chicken burgers for dinner. Ironically, the WiFi didn't work there either so we pulled out the pocket guide for Florence and Tuscany that we had purchased from Calgary. We have actually purchased 4 different pocket guides for this trip - Milan (and the Lake District), Florence (and Tuscany), Rome and London. It turned out that the square where our hotel was located was behind the square that was next to the train station.
Even after realizing that, it took us another fifteen minutes to get to our hotel because of the irregular presence of pedestrian crossings. Finally we checked in at 9 pm and then relaxed for a bit. It had been a hot day and tomorrow is an early start so we decided to take showers before going to bed. That's when we realized that the Airbnb experiment wasn't bad but it's not our thing. When we are traveling, we like to come back at night to a hotel that offers a luxurious experience. Our vacations are usually aggressively focused on exploration and sightseeing so what makes it relaxing for us is the luxury at the start and end of a day. Keep reading to find out about our exploration of Florence and the Tuscany region over the next 3 days. Take care and goodbye!
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