Livorno / Pisa, Italy – August 10

the Leaning Tower

25 degrees, hot, not overly humid

The Leaning Tower of Pisa was the main attraction today. It didn’t disappoint! We actually had to drag ourselves out of bed for an appointed time, but we did OK. Actually, we (maybe just I) had a bit of a

random outdoor frescos

slow start due to my competitive spirit…the booze package we’ve

purchased for the duration of this 7 day cruise is making me want t

random building decoration

o get my money’s worth! We’ve been keeping track and every day we’ve come out ahead…yesterday was no different, but I was moving a bit more slowly this morning.

Anyway…once we were mobile it was about a 30 minute bus ride to Pisa from Livorno where the port is. 30 minutes is just fine for a bus ride, any longer and it’s too much.

The area around the tower was a lot busier than I expected, but not so much that it impeded our enjoyment of our tour – maybe that was because of the 6 other cruise ships in today. Each of the ships has about 3000 passengers! I suspect most people would go to Florence from here, but still…a lot at the tower. There were 37 people on the tour and that was a LOT! I’m pretty sure that is the biggest paying tour we’ve ever been on. The guide was

pricy beer, but look a the view

good. She had a bit of a microphone that amplified her voice and we do a good job of being near her. Although the guided part of the tour was only about an hour, by the end of the hour there were only about 15 of us left with the guide – this was great.

After we saw the tower, heard the explanation and visited another square with the guide we were on our own. We wandered a bit and had a €7.00 (10CAD) beer – definitely the priciest

violinist

beer on the trip so far. It was nice to sit down, especially when we were about to find a spot right in front of the tower. By the time the tour was over and we drove back to the boat it was lunch.

Today is the last day on the boat, tomorrow we head to Frankfurt for the last city of this trip. That means tonight is filled with packing and getting to bed early.

The evening entertainment was a guy playing an electric violin. This is the second time we are seeing him this trip...very cool.

Mom - I think you're right about Chris' message...he thinks he is being subtle