A shortish one!

We were due to pick up Niamh’s childhood friend and her daughter from Pisa in the afternoon, but up to that point, we had time to go to the the Saturday market, grab a gelato and even had a bit of lunch.

We were blown away by the colour of the produce in March. Everything was so vibrant. So, inspired – I got a gelato. Any excuse really!

Unusually, we went to Il Poggio for lunch. I do like the Zuppa alla Volterrana there.

Afterwards, I downloaded a couple of fun and easy games on the XBox, in case guest-boredom became a thing.

To be sure of picking them up, we departed early – nothing to do with my being OCD around arriving early (I would not make a good Italian). The flight, if I recall correctly, was only slightly delayed and we greeted them warmly before heading off to the Piazza dei Miracoli, as neither of them had ever been in Italy, let alone Tuscany. I was sort of excited. It’s always great to show new people around. At first my excitement was somewhat tempered by visiting the torre pendente (that’s the Leaning Tower) once more, but then I realised that we hadn’t visited for a few years and got all giddy again!

We parked in our usual spot, and skittered uneasily past the hawkers at the western door. I have difficulties remembering what it’s like for first-time visitors. I guess it must be incredibly surreal visiting somewhere you’ve only ever seen in two-dimensional abstract, and are suddenly being hit with its full glory. And it is, admittedly, an impressive place – not just the tower, but the baptistry, museum and cathedral too. We have also lately learned that you can walk on top of the walls here. We haven’t done this yet, so we will happily do so when another guest wishes to visit the square.

I don’t do the touristy photos at the Leaning Tower, but at least one of our guests did! We had a stroll around, and found ourselves at the ticket office. We saw that there would be too long a delay to actually climb the tower, and that the baptistry is closed – which was a real shame – but we got a ticket for the Cathedral (which is free, but you still must collect a ticket).

In we went, only to discover that a mass was one. Fantastic, Ted! We all snuck one shot each before the nice uniformed man gave out shite to us for using a camera (even though no video, no flash). The sign indicated that no flashes were to be used, as that flash part of the sign had a bisected circle through it, but no – there is simply no arguing with a man in uniform in Italy.

Now, here’s the thing. I have no more photos of the day. Anything could have happened, but my strong guess is that we just chilled and ate at home. Sorry about this – it’s unusual of me to not have taken photos to give me a clue. And these days it’s also unlikely of me to have left it 8-9 months before posting about a day. Hopefully onwards and upwards going forward!