After our glorious week in Cinque Terre, we were all a bit sad about leaving Italy. We had a 1pm flight out of Pisa, so we packed up the night before and left the beautiful town of Manarola at 6am.

We each had a small daypack and then we had one large suitcase/roller bag full of MP’s study stuff, books, my computer and art supplies for the afternoons of relaxing back at our flat.

When we got to Pisa, we checked the big bag at the train station and took off for the Leaning Tower. First we crossed the lovely Arno River.

The sun was still  not quite high enough to get over the tall buildings on to the long walkways in Pisa.

It was super quiet, but we found a coffee shop that was open for breakfast and got directions to the Leaning Tower.

It was actually way closer than I even thought. We came around a corner, and there it was!!

And it sure is leaning!

It was totally strange to see it. Like the Eiffel Tower, it’s this building I’ve seen a million times in pictures before ever seeing it up close.

We felt compelled to take a lot of photos.

But we didn’t actually stay at the tower for that long. We did not tour the inside, but just walked around it and then headed off to find…wait for it…GELATO. That’s right. We promised Simon if he walked to the tower that we would eat gelato afterwards.

Actually, my favorite part of Pisa was going back to the river and walking along it in the sunshine. Since Pisa is inland, it’s a good bit warmer than it was on the coast and Taido had already texted to warn us that it was snowing back in Scotland.

So we were trying not to cry at the thought of leaving beautiful Italy.

We also found some great markets in Pisa.

Lots of treats.

And fresh veg.

Hello most beautiful artichokes in the world.

And teeny tiny asparagus.

And zucchini (or courgette) flowers!)

We bought fresh bread, cheese and meats from some venders plus a selection of gorgeous pastries and took it with us the airport.

After we collected our bag, caught the shuttle to the airport, stood in a very long check-in line and sweated our way through security and passport control, we settled down on the floor in a corner of the slightly overcrowded international wing to spread out our picnic on the ground and enjoy our last meal in Bella Italia! It was a delightful way to end our trip to Italy!

PS Here’s a six second video of our day!

Also, more Italy posts!

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