Leaning Tower and Ship Wrecks

Last week, my mom flew in to town. It was truly wonderful to have her visit.

Mom is a flight attendent, and her schedule is hectic, so for her to find a couple days to spend with me was simply awesome. She's done the whole Rome thing and had her heart set on something a little more unique.

The Costa Concordia. For those who don't remember what the Costa Concordia is- it is the Cruise Ship that sailed by an island off the coast of Tuscany, hit the reef, and fell on it's side. Fortunately the ship was SO close to land and a port that a lot of help was available. Unfortunately over 30 people died. The Captain evacutated the ship while passengers and crew members were still onboard. Very uncool. This happened on January 13, 2012- almost a full year later and the ship is still there, being worked on so it can be towed away.

Pisa was also on Mom's hit list. I haven't been yet, so I was excited to go there as well.

Mom flew in Tuesday, hung out Wednesday around Naples, and then we caught a train to Pisa (via Roma) that afternoon. I've taken the train a couple times now, I will post below my thoughts and tips for train travel. We arrived in Pisa about 5-6 hours later, walked one block to our hotel (Hotel La Pace- SUPER GREAT PLACE TO STAY), checked in and then went exploring.

The front desk clerk- Regina, speaks excellent English, and directed us to a local restaruant that was super quaint and traditional, Risorante Lo Schiaccianoci. We walked in and to our left was a very large family eating dinner together- something you see in the movies. I tried gnocchi for the first time, and it was pretty good! It is pretty much tiny potatoe like dough balls served in cream or red sauce, and whatever toppings. It's very heavy on the stomach, but hey! We're in Pisa!

After dinner, Mom and I walked through town, making our way to the Leaning Tower. It was a 20 minute walk, through clean streets, precious shops, and over a large river. Before we knew it, we had arrived. Seeing the tower at night is a MUST! So glad we did that first. There were maybe 4 other people at the tower when we arrived. Taking pictures and admiring its' beauty. The towers' white marble against the dark night sky is a stunner. By far the most beautiful and crisp historical building I have seen.

We came back the next morning to take pictures. I was compelled to take a picture to make it look like I was supporting the tower with my hand. I felt very original! Haha! A friend on Facebook told me to go and give high fives, so I saw a young girl posing with her hand out to "support the tower" I ran up to her and gave her a high five. I must admit, it was pretty funny!

The tower leans 3.99 degrees today. Pictures really don't do justice to show how much it really leans. It used to lean 5.5 degrees and was deamed unsafe to the public. So after years of counterweights, and shifting dirt around, the tower has been reopened and is claimed to be safe for the next 200 years. I really wanted to climb the steps inside- I hear you get some pretty crazy vertigo, or drunk feeling. I didn't climb the 290+ steps, because I decided to wait until Marito cameout with me, something we can experience together.

There are a bunch of tents and vendors along the streets in Pisa, so plenty of touristy knick knacks and keychains to look at. I lately have been a sucker for magnets. I can't help but to want to buy them ever since I moved to Italy!






We caught the train and made our way back towards Roma. Instead of getting off in Rome though, we got off at the Orbetello Monte Argentario station. Walked outside and caught the first city bus to Porto Santo Stefano. This is the port where Mom and I caught the ferry that took us to Giglio Island. Our hotel (Hotel Alfiero) was 2 blocks away from bus stop and ferry, so it worked out great.

Porto Santo Stefano and Giglio Island are not big tourist attractions by any means. Infact, because the cruise ship sunk there is the only reason why I know about it. Many people have gone to take pictures of the ship, but they come in go within the same day- not doing much to boost the economy.

We caught the 0730 ferry to the island. It was an hour long ferry ride, and the water was a bit choppy, but we stayed warm inside with a cappuccino in hand. As we approached the island, you can see the ship. It's length of 950 feet was fully exposed as was the gash that was ripped into the hull. It was a very cool thing to see, but it is so hard to be excited over seeing it because it was such a tragic event. The Italians are not proud of this, and don't want this to be the reason why people come to Giglio. But it is what it is.

The ferry pulls up so close to the ship, we were maybe 100 feet away. Being the only two tourist on the boat, we stuck out like a sore thumb taking pictures. But this is the reason why we came. Mom and I wanted pictures with the Costa Concordia because who else has pictures with it? Everyone has pictures with the Statue of Liberty, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, but out of our friends and other world travelers not many people have been to this shipwreck. So again, kinda cool but still very tragic.

We docked about two football fields away, and hailed a taxi. For 15 euros the taxi driver drove us up the rocky coast, and stopped so we could jump out and take pictures peering down at the ship. Five minutes later he drove us back. We had spent less than 30 minutes on the island. Round trip ferry tickets, and a taxi, it's an expensive trip for 30 minutes and some pictures- but it's something that we can say that we have been to. Mom's friend wanted to make the trip with us but couldn't, so to lighten the mood we cut out a picture of her and brought her with us.

This wrapped up our whirl wind trip. We hopped back on the next train to Roma, mom went to the airport and I headed home. I'm sure that 3 days with your mom may not be ideal, but the relationship mom and I have, 3 days was perfect. She doesn't want me to tote her around, and go out of my way to be super hospitable to her. She knows that she will be back more often than anyone else, so little doses at a time is perfect.



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TRAIN TIPS

• Catching a train from Downtown Naples can be pricey.
• Catch the train from Villa Literno- 15 minute drive from Lago Patria
• From here to Roma you pay 10 euros!
• Have a friend drop you off and pick you up to avoid parking
• Visit TrenItalia.com enter Villa Literno and wherever your desitiantion is.
• We spent roughly 40 euros to Pisa, 20 euros to Orbetello from Pisa, and from Orbetello to Roma was 10 Euros.
• I say don't bother with buying 1st class. It's not a huge difference, unless you are on a train for endless hours- then it may be worth looking into.
• Make sure you validate your ticket before boarding the train.

• Look for a yellow box on the wall or a TrenItalia green box.
• When you enter your ticket into the slot, it will punch a hole. Congratulations your ticket has been validated.
• If you don't validate your ticket- it can cost you an additional 50 Euros!

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Getting to The Costa Concordia

• Visit the website TrenItalia
• I travel from Villa Literno to Orbetello-Monte with a stop in Roma Termini
• When you arrive in Orbetello, catch the local city bus to Porto Santo Stefano (the bus will say so on the digital display at the top) and when you see the boats you know you are where you are suppose to be.
• The city bus is 2 Euros a person (Taxi is 30 Euros)
• We walked about 2 blocks down the road to get to our hotel.
• Buy your ferry ticket across the street from the ferries
• There are only two ferries to get to Giglio Island- Torremar or Maregiglio.
• View their ferry time tables here
• It costs us 10,30 euros a person there, and 9,30 to get back
• The ferry is an hour each way, and give yourself time to catch the city bus to get back to the train station.

Here is a good website for Giglio Island