Pisa and Roma, Italy

We arrived in Pisa with a little difficulty. We had previously purchased open-ended tickets so we could ride any train from Florence to Pisa, but we didn’t really know how those would work. I ended up asking a conductor and he said we needed to validate the tickets at a little box. As we all validated our tickets, we realized we had less than 5 minutes to board our train. I’m sure we were a sight to see, nine Americans with luggage in tow running towards a crowded train. We made the train, but had a little trouble finding seats and luggage storage for everyone. Thank goodness the train ride wasn’t long because it was crowded. Pisa is an interesting place. Without the tower, it would be nothing. From the train station, it’s a 15 minute stroll to the tower. There’s one road to take and not much to veer off to see. We enjoyed just playing around and taking funny pictures with the tower. Some of the girls kicked it, some tried to step on it, and some of us pushed it. A cute Japanese couple actually took our picture while we were taking pictures because they thought we were so amusing. Glad we made their day! After a decent amount of goofing off, we headed back to the train station, but not before getting some gelato! When we purchased the train tickets to Rome, the man said we could get on any train that day that was going to Rome, so we did. We were back to the station early (that’s a first) and boarded an earlier train than we had planned on. We’re riding through the gorgeous countryside of Italy and the conductor comes to collect our tickets. Oops! We’re actually riding a eurostar train, which is basically an express train, and our tickets aren’t valid for this train. He makes us pay an extra 12 euros each right there! I think it’s a way for them to charge tourists because another American came up to us and he had run into a similar problem, but he had a eurorail pass, and they still charged him. We got to talking with him and he’d been living in Phoenix for the last 15 years, but was born and raised in Springfield, Illinois and was a Cardinals fan, small world! If you’re ever in Italy and taking the train, watch out! That put a little damper on our happy moods, but we quickly got over it as we pulled into Rome! We had booked a hostel in advance and got there easily from the train station. We checked in and got settled. Six of us were staying in a dorm together while the other three got a private room since they were leaving earlier than the rest of us. We went to a tiny little restaurant near our hostel for dinner. The food was amazing like always, but when the bill came we had a bit of a language barrier. The two old men working knew little to no English and we knew zero Italian so we were confused about the bill, but it all ended up working out.
I was still unsure as we started our first day in Rome, but we got up and went to a nearby café that our hostel gave us coupons to use for breakfast. Cappuccino and croissants! Best breakfast ever, and I mean that in all seriousness. We all had different departure days from Rome so we thought it best to split up and allow everyone to do what they wanted in the city. Lynnsey, Molly, and I went to the Coliseum, Palatine Hill, and the Pantheon. We paid for a guided tour of the Coliseum and Palatine Hill which was a great decision. I learned so much about both and it really allowed me to appreciate what I was seeing.