First Stop: Pisa!

So we started our journey in Pisa, Italy. We landed around 9pm, and though it was wet, it was warm! It was a nice change from the wintry-like weather that is taking over London. We got through customs no problem (they didn't even ask me anything) and left the airport to find a taxi. We loaded up and headed to our hostel. The cab driver pointed out the train station and a few other landmarks to us along the way. I loved seeing the town! It was also weird to be driving on the right side of the road again! We got to our hostel, which was right by the leaning tower! We were greeted by the hostel dog, Biro. :) After we checked in, we took all of our stuff up to our room. We turned on the light and accidentally woke up a man sleeping! We felt bad, so we turned on the reading lights and finished making our beds and getting our stuff situated. Then we went downstairs to the common room to use the wifi and plan out our day. We talked to some of the other guests for a while and then headed to bed. We all got into bed and drifted to sleep... Except me. I could not fall asleep for the life of me, for a few hours. Then one other man came in and turned on the overhead light at 2am! So he woke me up just as I was falling asleep. Then I was awake most of the rest of the night because of all the snoring going on in my room, and some VERY loud thunder storms! It was a long, tiring night. I think I got about 2-3 hours of sleep total, and morning was not pleasant. But I got up and got packed up, checked out, and stored our bags for the day. Then we ventured out into the rain to explore. We walked down the main street of designer shops and stopped at a cafe for our first Italian coffee! I got a cappuccino that was delicious! We went down to the river and took some pictures and walked through a market. After that we started to walk back through town up the the piazza dei miracoli, where the Baptistry, duomo, and leaning tower are. We saw some other churches and buildings along the way, but then somehow got a little lost... And then it started to DOWNPOUR. We were soaked! By the time we got to the piazza, the rain key up enough for us to get some classic touristy pictures with the tower before the sky started falling again. It was ridiculous! We took cover against the duomo wall until it lightened up. Ten we went to a restaurant nearby called Il Tuscano, where we had to sit outside (under cover, but still chilly and wet$ and had some hot tea and spaghetti. It was delicious! After lunch we went back to our hostel to get our luggage and to warm up and dry out a bit before heading to the train station. We hung out with Biro and researched our next adventure. Then we said goodbye and walked to the bus that would take us to the train station. Then we were on the train to Florence, exhausted and relieved to be out of the rain (though it seemed to be clearing up as we were leaving, of course). So now we are in Florence. More to come on that later!