That Leaning Tower...The one in Pisa

A rite of passage for living in and visiting Italy is stopping in to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa (or Pizza as my two little ones call it).  We decided to pay her a visit when we were vacationing in Tuscany last spring break.  I'll admit I was excited--we all were.  We considered paying the fee to climb to the top, but with my fear of heights, I decided that sheer terror was just not worth it, so we opted to just snap some cool pictures instead.

I love this one!

The first thing you notice when you arrive by the tower is that it really IS leaning pretty bad!  I don't mean to state the obvious...but it was pretty shocking.  After seeing that, I was REALLY glad I hadn't decided to climb it.  As it turned out, you can't actually climb it unless you are over 8 years old, so Delilah and Jackson couldn't have gone, and you have to make reservations and come back at that given time anyways. The second thing that surprised us is that it isn't really very tall. I expected it to be...bigger....The most shocking thing about the tower is that there is literally NOTHING else to do in Pisa.  We were kind of like, "Well, there it is...now what?? How long do we have to stand here?"  The place was packed and crawling with tourists taking pictures tipping the tower over, or propping it up, etc...We decided to eat lunch, have gelato and then head on out.  It was a let down, but still one of those places you have to see in Italy.  My advice for Pisa, leave the car running...

I also didn't know that there are other big buildings around the tower!

Tory by the tower

It was super windy!

 Restaurant where we ate

Delilah doesn't listen...

A little side note on a trip to Pisa....we had been warned by our friends The Neumeyers, who also have 4 beautiful, blonde haired children, that many Asian tourists love to have their pictures taken with random blonde haired strangers.  Even though we were warned, we were shocked as hell a little "taken back" when SEVERAL Asian tourists came up to us, plucked Delilah out of my arms, scooted Jackson over (literally) and took pictures holding her in front of the tower with Jackson beside them in the picture too.  Needless to say, Delilah was NOT HAPPY with that.  I'm so curious, why.....why do you want a picture of yourself in front of a world-famous tourist attraction while you are hold the screaming two year old of a perfect stranger?  The look on Jackson's face was priceless.  It's sad to say, but it happens so often now, even the kids have gotten use to it...