Pisa, Italy - A Pleasant City.

My day in Pisa was the most pleasant of my whole trip. (It was the first chance I had to explore Italy at my own pace.) The Italians are, as claimed in most travel books, very friendly towards Americans. The friendliness is sincere -- not that sort of tourism friendliness you might find in some other tourist destinations. The woman at the airport information desk, the bus drivers, and the young luggage storage woman planning a trip of her own to study in New York, were just plain nice.

Pisa is an ancient city by almost any account. The archaeological record indicates that Etruscans (precursors to the Romans) settled in the same area during the 5th century BCE.

My exploration started at the Piazza dei Miracoli (where the leaning tower sits). From there, I walked to the Piazza dei Cavalieri, then on to the Corsa Italia (shopping district street), the Piazza Vittorio Emanuele, and finished at the Piazza della Stazione (where I caught the bus back to the aeroporto). This route took me across most of the city. The Wikipedia has an excellent entry covering Pisa, so I won't try to duplicate that same information here.

Take a look at my photos from Pisa.