Nov 15 2019
Italy Trip - Day 4
A rainy half loved experience
Early morning breakfast and we checked out for our next destination to Cinque Terra, but with a 2.5 hours halt in Pisa Centrale for sometime at the Leaning Tower of Pisa ground visit
Florence weather was gloomy and overcast today without any rains but as we checked in Weather forecast for Pisa, it was raining medium to heavy showers there :-(. First really bad day it going to turn up i guess.
Anyways we moved to the station for boarding the train to Pisa Centrale. Our today's plan was to reach Pisa by 11:30 am and have a 2.5 hours stay in Pisa Tower ground before catching back train for Cinque Terre via La Spezia Centrale station.We started from Firenze Santa Maria Novella station at around 9:30 am. Journey was for 1.5 hours.
Train was a local one but quite neat and clean and spacious too.Just after boarding it started raining heavily as per prediction. Rest of the day was all about rain.
But what to do !! Odd time of the year , basically rainy times it was for the entire trip, luckily first 3 days it turned quite good. Anyways we reached Pisa Centrale finally. As per plan i searched for the baggage deposit center to drop our extra luggages for the 2.5 hours time.Normally in Italy every primary station which are of tourist importance also usually have the baggage drop facilities within station premises only. It took around 8 Euro per baggage and its a whole day charge irrespective of the hours you may think for keeping.They will just scan your passport copies and give you token slips against those. We thereby kept 2 of our heavy baggages , a trolley & a ruckshack.
Till now we were good as it was inside station , outside it was drizzling still. Last time in 2011 when i visited here with one of my junior colleague i still remember the path & road we used to reach Pisa. My plan was to use same this time also. Walking hardly takes 20 to 30 minutes time & the roads are scenic. But alas with PP & our little one in rain, it will be tough. So i took couple of tickets for too and fro bus journey for us from the nearby station shop which is also connected directly to the bus stop. It was still raining, gave my umbrella to PP & I wore a plastic raincoat which we took in Rome from the Bangladeshi sellers when it rained sometime while coming out of the Vatican Museum. In here also the Blacks were selling umbrellas and raincoats called as "Ponchos". We took 1 for 2.5 Euro which they initially ask for 5 Euro. We waited for the bus and then boarded finally. It was bit crowdy due to rain & also less frequency. Since last time we didn't board the bus i was not having any idea of the route it will take. A major problem in local buses is language, rarely they understand you if you need any help on destinations and that what happened finally. With 1 stop to remain for the Pisa Tower bus stop we asked randomly if this is the correct stop to get down. Many said Yes, so we got down. Then we realized 1 stop or around 500 to 700 meters was still remaining. By this time the rain increased, it was no more light drizzles but quite heavy showers.
We waited in the bus stop shade for few minutes but as we were having limited time we decided to move on as the footpaths are slowly getting filled with water. As i said Ron's leg was slight outside while he sleeps when we move with the stroller as his leg is not fastened from the tip, the stroller was slightly small for him. We were having 1 stroller cover which was good enough to cover it entirely except the toe part, the shoes were popping out. So i wrapped that part with couple of plastic bags before we started to move to the Pisa ground.
While we reached the Pisa ground I realized the way we are actually entering from. Its completely different way from where we have visited it last time. It used to be straight from the station. The bus route is kind of lengthy. Anyways rain was not stopping. This destination we have to enjoy half cooked only. i was feeling bad not for me as i already visited all places in good weather during summer. I was actually getting disappointed for my sweet heart whose some dream moments are getting messed up a little. Also out of the rain my little one getting irritated while staying inside the stroller mostly.
Nevertheless we took some photos within that time and moved forward to the Leaning tower and the main office for showing our booked tickets to climb up the Leaning tower. Again the rain started coming heavily. We quickly took some shelter below one of the nearby buildings within the Pisa ground.
The Pisa ground contains 4 buildings - Baptistery, Leaning Tower, Cathedral and Camposanto Monumentale.
The leaning Tower of Pisa was designed as a circular bell tower that would stand 185 feet high. It is constructed of white marble. The tower has eight stories, including the chamber for the bells.The Leaning Tower of Pisa is one of the most remarkable architectural structures from medieval Europe.It is one of the most visited European cities.
Tower of Pisa stands at 60 metres and until 1990 was leaning at about a 10 degree angle. Although it was designed to be perfectly vertical, it started to lean during construction.
The rain was not stopping, so we moved to the nearby ticket office. We reached there around 30 minutes late from our scheduled timing to climb up. Reaching the office we got our tickets but was actually surprised to know - Babies are not allowed to be taken upstairs :-(. Was not very familiar with this rule though and there was no excuse. So that meant me and PP have to go self to climb up. We refreshed and changed our and Ron's wet shoes and socks. He got a bit drenched at the last point as his leg covering slipped in some waters.Sitting in the ticket counter we had some snacks and also feeded our little one who is now awake for sometime.
Once done I quickly went up first, the security people in front of the entry gate of the tower tried to say its late for my slot but then allowed when i explained the situation. The stairs were wet and slippery. Had to move up with caution. After reaching to the top it was very windy and drizzling. Hardly got any time to stay back. Took some photos of the bells at the top and the top view pictures of the entire ground. Guards were there at the top to guide for safety. Not so enjoyable situation, so with half hearted fulfillment i climbed down. Next PP went up again being stopped initially by the entry gate checkers. She was also bit disappointed large due to rain and also for the fact of climbing up alone. She didn't went up till the end and came back after climbing 75% of the stairs.
As the rain was going low and heavy our stipulated time also came to an end. We didn't roam much further in the ground. Came back close to the tower for some more pictures. Our little one suddenly started crying getting irritated inside the plastic cover.
So finally we started back to the station but this time walking back to my known road way. Due to the rains all nearby Souvenir shops and even food shacks, restaurants were mostly closed. We were strolling back in light drizzle nicely but suddenly it got heavy after few minutes again. I wrapped one of our plastic raincoats to cover the front part of Ron's legs nicely to avoid any dripping water to his toes again. It worked nicely. Took around 30 minutes to get back. Time was less for boarding our next train to La Spezia Centrale. I left PP and Ron in the McD which was adjacent to the station after ordering takeout for us to get back our deposited baggage which was 5 minutes walk to the extreme end of the station. We hurried up , the train was in the next station so we moved towards that using the lift and subway path.
This train to La Spezia was also an Eurostar one, very classy and luxurious, and guess what its almost empty :-). It was a bit tight inside with less walking space having 3:2 seating arrangements. We grabbed a 2 side window seat and settled down with Ron totally awake now as he was also hungry along with us. Got his stroller sidelined in the 3 seater sides but blocking the main path as there was no good space to keep the stroller unlike the previous train from Rome. Since almost no people i there so we didn't faced any issue. As we were terribly hungry quickly grabbed on with the Mc Chicken burgers and fries to help our tummies. McD or of its kind is really a savior for any journey specially in Europe and i like it also.
While we were moving towards La Spezia for Cinque Terre therein, the weather started to get somewhat stable slowly. The train journey was very smooth , relaxed and very fast. It took another 1.5 hours to reach La Spezia Centrale. We were having a 5 min train from there to take which will take us to Riomaggiore, one of the beautiful island of Cinque Terre and our first night hotel stay destination, rather its an Air BNB type, residence being let out. All bookings of hotels & let outs we did from Hotels.com after lot of research about the place and distance from stations and view points as we were having our little junior with us and we have to be all by ourselves when it comes to carrying luggage.
Finally we boarded the local Cinque Terre train from La Spezia Centrale to reach Riomaggiore station. It was just before sunset while we boarded down there at around 4:30 pm. That's how a rainy half drenched, half loved experience for Pisa destination completed finally.
Will let you know about the next days experience in my next blog for visiting "Cinque Terre" - a lovely destination of 5 small villages.
Tips to Note:
If you are set for a Rainy season trip during Nov timelines you got to be mentally prepared for the worst and hope for the best in terms of water.
You need to be minimum equipped to safeguard but continue in the rains like umbrella, raincoats etc
Good to have a Plan B in hand incase the actual Plan A gets jeopardized
With a baby/infant you need to be extra care, keep some proper stroller covering for zero impact to your baby in case it rains suddenly.
Keep a tap on the weather forecast for the locations you planned for the day
Be very cautious on roads, walkways, while climbing up any towers having congested and slippery paths/steps. Avoid any form of accidents which can ruin rest part of your trip.
Photo Gallery:
Travel VideoVlogs:
Comments