The connection between our hostel and the airport, which we had worried over so much, went very smoothly, and we arrived in the Barcelona Girona airport with plenty of time to get my Visa checked, emerge from its chaotic security procedure (which confiscated my fork but left Nat's untouched) and walk onto our plane to the Galileo Galilei airport in Pisa. On the plane we sat next to an Italian woman who reminded me of the protagonist from the 'Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' movie (which is incidentally the scariest movie I have ever watched in my entire life) who taught us how to say 1 to 10 in Italian.
Uno
Due
Tre
Quattro
Cinque
Sei
Sette
Otto
Nove
Dieci
We encountered the world's grumpiest luggage storage man in the airport, and then walked through sunny streets to the Leaning Tower of Pisa. We bought gelato from an Italian Artigianale (which means home-made - another word we learnt from the girl without a dragon tattoo!) gelateria - chocolate and lemon, flavours which bring me back to melting chocolate chips on a buttery slice of lemon drizzle cake... It's funny how taste and smell can conjure memories so vividly.
'Hmmm what is that? Is it famous? Have you seen that before? It looks weirdly familiar...' we joked as we came up to the looming tower. Like the Big Ben, it was smaller than I imagined, but quite beautiful (US sergeant Leon Weckstein refrained from bombing it in the War - despite thinking it was a German observation post - because of its beauty) and most evidently leaning. They say it will last another 200 years, which for a building built in 1173, is not bad.
Almost late for our slot to climb it (which was to become a recurrent happening in our trip!) we had to run to the tower to just get in on time, and climb the 294/296 (depending on which side of the lean you're on) steps to reach its top. From the top, you see a beautiful view of Pisa and the other buildings in the Piazza dei Miracolli. This Piazza is sometimes called Campo dei Miracoli, the Field of Miracles, because of the beautiful architecture within it - apart form the tower of Pisa, there is the Pisa Cathedral, the Pisa Baptistry, and the Camposanto Monumentale.
Of course, we took the iconic 'I'm-touching-this-famous-imperfect-building!' shot, at one point helped by a hilarious German couple who told us to move this way and that in German, which I had to do my best to guess at! Nat had previously taught me a little German "der apfel fällt nicht weit vom stamm", but seeing as it translates to "the apple doesn't fall far from the stump" it wasn't particularly apposite for that situation. Although of course it is incredibly useful for all other situations one might find one's self in in a foreign country.
The Tower of Pisa was really all we came to see in that city, but we also did go into the Cathedral, a 17th century construction with Romanesque and Byzantine influences in architectural style. Because Nat's top didn't cover her shoulders, she had to wear a gauzy, dentist-green poncho with ties at the side, which meant that we entered the church giggling but quickly stifled our laughter at the sheer grandeur of the cathedral!
Our bus ride to Florence was first delayed and then very very warm, which had quite a soporific effect - which helped me catch up on some sleep since in Barcelona I'd slept about 5 hours each night! Some of the ladies behind us were quite vocal about their dissatisfaction ('This is the worst bus ride I have ever taken!') and I couldn't help but look at them and comment 'It wasn't that bad'
We bought ravioli (that we later discovered had cheese on it), and bumped our suitcases along the cobblestones to get to our hostel on time - we had a room to our selves which is such an incredible blessing. On the way there I already decide in my heart that I love Florence. It's unpredictable, uncontrollable, and wonderful, And we saw a rowing boat as we cross the Arno River. Just because Florence decided that two girls with the wrong dinners, a delayed bus, unsuitable suitcases and little time to check in deserve a rare and breath taking view.
The nearest supermarket was just 5 minutes away from our hostel, and because we don't eat cheese, we go there to get dinner instead, from a very grumpy supermarket lady ('maybe she hasn't had her dinner either'). Ready meals and ciabatta cut it for dinner, and we ate while talking about eating disorders, body image, and worth. That night I probably understood for the first time just how lucid eating disorder patients are, and yet also how powerless they are. In that conversation, eating disorders became so obviously and palpably destructive on both the mind and body.
But we ended the day in the best way possible, eating cereal with hazelnut milk and listening to songs in the shower.
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