It was a long train ride from Bari to Bologna. But it was nice seeing the Italian east coast. We pretty much went from southern to northern Italy. Bologna is located in the Tuscany region and is well-known for its university, which is the oldest in Europe. The town has a lot of old buildings and churches. I walked around the Old Town area most of the day. There were many narrow streets and interesting shops. This region is known for its ham and cheese and beautiful landscape. It includes famous towns like Florence, Siena, Parma and Pisa. I've met many people who rent an apartment or villa and stay in the area for 1 or 2 weeks.
We took the 4 pm train from Bologna to Pisa, which is not too far away. However, we had to change train a few times. We checked into a hostel about 1 km from the train station. It's quite a nice hostel and we stayed in a 6-bed room. Ralph and I walked to the Leaning Tower in the morning. It took about 30 minutes but we walked across town and saw different parts of Pisa. We walked past the University of Pisa, which has several buildings scattered across the city. It was impressive seeing the the Leaning Tower of Pisa finally. Besides the tower, there is a big church and surrounding them is a wall. At one time this was within a fort. We got there early enough that there were very few tourists. I paid 15 euros to climb all the way up to the tower. Now I can say that I was up in the Leaning Tower of Pisa. By 9 am the tourists were arriving by the busload.
Our next step is the Cinque Terre area. This is one of the most beautiful areas in Italy or even the world. I've heard a lot about it and thought it's worth spending some time there. This will be in my next post.
We took the 4 pm train from Bologna to Pisa, which is not too far away. However, we had to change train a few times. We checked into a hostel about 1 km from the train station. It's quite a nice hostel and we stayed in a 6-bed room. Ralph and I walked to the Leaning Tower in the morning. It took about 30 minutes but we walked across town and saw different parts of Pisa. We walked past the University of Pisa, which has several buildings scattered across the city. It was impressive seeing the the Leaning Tower of Pisa finally. Besides the tower, there is a big church and surrounding them is a wall. At one time this was within a fort. We got there early enough that there were very few tourists. I paid 15 euros to climb all the way up to the tower. Now I can say that I was up in the Leaning Tower of Pisa. By 9 am the tourists were arriving by the busload.
Our next step is the Cinque Terre area. This is one of the most beautiful areas in Italy or even the world. I've heard a lot about it and thought it's worth spending some time there. This will be in my next post.
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| Ferry that goes between Italy and Greece |
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| Bar and Lounge on ferry |
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| Fort in Bari |
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| A shrine in a street corner in Bari |
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| Inside the Basilica in Bologna |
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| A Bologna shop selling local ham and other foodstuff |
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| Store selling cheese in Bologna |
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| One of the streets in Bologna |
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| Guess what this is called |
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| Church buildings around the Leaning Tower of Pisa |
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| University of Pisa buildings |
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