Under Water in Italy

Happy Thanksgiving week to everyone!  I bet you 40-hour-a-week-ers out there are looking forward to a nice long weekend coming up.  I'll be back in another post to recount our Thanksgiving adventures in the Netherlands, but for now, I want to share about our trip to Italy.  #warningthispostislong

I had been in Italy one other time, and this was Todd's first experience. The country did not disappoint.  We flew out of the Dusseldorf-Weeze airport last Sunday direct to Pisa (on a 12 euro ticket no less).  The airport offered a couple of the biggest coffees we've seen in awhile. And after our 4:45am alarms, these sounded pretty darn good.

I promise one of these belonged to Todd.

Upon arrival in Pisa, we went to the ticket counter to purchase a bus ticket to the center of town.  The first clue that our experience might get a little soggier was when they told us that no buses were running because of all the rain.  So, we trudged outside with our map and umbrella, ready for the rainy 15 minute walk to our hotel (thankfully the hotel wasn't far from the airport!).

It started out fine, but as we approached the city, we saw this.

And then this....

We kept going, thinking that things would get better, right?  Nope.  We walked further into town and suddenly couldn't find a street to go down that didn't include wading through water. Hmmm.  Our choices at that point were to walk back to the airport, or dive in.  We chose the wetter option.  I took off my new boots and put on my older tennis shoes and rolled up my pants.  Todd was smarter and had packed his flip flops.  

What do you think is in this water?

Stylin'

Thankfully, the temp was in the high 60s, so we didn't freeze.  We waded to our hotel and rang the buzzer to get in.  No answer.  We tried again.  Again, no response.  At this point, I must admit we were  a tad peeved.  And Todd was hungry.  And he gets a little cranky when he's hungry.  And I was soaked. And I get a little cranky when I'm soaked.  So we gave up on dropping our stuff at the hotel and walked through more disgusting street water to a restaurant.

Thankfully, our first pizza experience in Italy was delicious....and dry.  And Todd managed to find the only micro-brewed beer in the country, I think.  We hung out for a couple of hours, called the hotel to make sure they were there, and headed back out.  This time went much more smoothly.  Apparently, the flooding was flash flooding, and it had receded while we were mowing pizza.  The hotel, or guest house, owner told us it was the worst rain and flooding he's seen in 20 years living in Pisa. But, hey, what good is traveling if not for adventure and good stories?

After taking a hair dryer to a few things and laying out the rest of our waterlogged business, we headed to the main attraction in Pisa!  Its river!  Juuuust kidding.  We went to the tower.

Lean, baby, lean. Todd's actually doing a slight Leaning Tower impression here I think.

Leaning tower photo fail.

Now that's more like it!

View from the tower.

After our time climbing crooked stairs to the top of the tower, we continue to explore Pisa. A lovely city.

Dinner in Pisa was at a small out of the way place with excellent home cooking.  We both had delicious steaks, and the best wine of the trip.

After a night in Pisa, we hopped a train to the Tuscan hilltop village of San Gimignano.  This was my favorite stop of the trip.  

Vending machine espresso.

Our hotel was perfect as well.  With a fun view of one of the main piazzas in town.

San Gimignano has earned the nickname, "Manhattan of Tuscany" because of its towers.  This city dates back to medieval times and is extremely well preserved.  You turn down any street and you'll either get an amazing view of the Tuscan countryside or a quaint street to turn down and explore.  Also, since it was November and raining, the town had barely any tourists.  This allowed us to move around the city at times completely alone.  It was awesome. Here's a slew of photos for you:

Lunch our first day.

One of the many old wells in the piazzas.

Prosciutto pizza and black olive tapenade bruschetta - accompanied by the white wine of San G., Vernaccia.

Ahh, the view.

Our hotel on the outside.

Mini replica of the city as it looked in the 1300s.  Todd thought this was really cool.

Mocha cappuccino.

We drank a liter of wine that night. Don't judge.

This region of Tuscany is known for its wild boar.  Todd ordered wild boar pasta, and it was delicious. You can see my gnocchi in the background too.

This city would be great for hide and seek.

Hotel breakfast buffet in the morning.

Todd bought some wild boar here.

If it had been sunny, this shot would have been right out of the movie, Under the Tuscan Sun.

After San G., we took the train down to the eternal city, Roma.  I'll recap the second half of the trip in my next blog post!  Thanks as always for reading.