Ping Pong Tourism.

When we were little, my sister and I used to play a game in a very small rec-room at our local rec center that basically involved hitting a ping pong ball as hard as we could and bouncing it off all the available surfaces of the room, including table, walls, and ceiling.

At this point in our trip, I began to feel like a ping pong ball myself. We literally bounced in and out of Pisa in exactly enough time to sleep (Ping), eat (Pong), do laundry (Ping), see the Tower (PONG), and check our e-mail before continuing out of town (Ping).

It was a rushed few hours, and our sleep deprived selves (the train arrived late the night before) were certainly beginning to feel the drain of so much travel.

We went to the tower and took some very fun photographs, including one for me to go alongside my sister's. In 1998 when she was working in Germany, my sister took a vacation and went to Pisa, and there had a photograph taken that gives the visual illusion that she is supporting the tower with her hands. We now have a brother for the photograph, of me supporting the tower with a hand. Obviously she got tired and needed a suitable replacement.


Patrick Subs for his Absent Sister.



Leaning on the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

After that we tossed around the idea of staying at the hostel in Pisa, but couldn't find it. The map we had implied that it was less than three blocks from the tower, but we searched for it for a long time before finally giving up and seeking out a local man (in a building market "office of tourism") to ask for directions. He was refinishing a green-painted cabinet at the time and covered head to toe in green paint dust. But very kindly came out and looked at our (incorrect) map and explained that the hostel existed but was five kilometers down the road. At least, that is what we think he explained. He only spoke Italian, though he understood English and all we understood of he explanation was his frown at our map and the words "five kilometers" in the middle of his explanation.

So we set off again, on the train, this time for Lucca (a completely walled and very pretty little city), where we stopped briefly and hit another web cafe, then chose our next destination Firenze (Florence). We figured we'd stop in, grab some food and sleep, and then see the David before leaving the next day (Ping Pong!).

So we looked through a list of available places and one place stood out - Firenze Inn, the place the bearded American in Venice had mentioned. Free internet, free breakfast, and what was this, free dinner as well? It sounded wonderful, so we grabbed our bags and headed back to the train station.

Next: Lost on the Road to Firenze (or "How to See Rural Tuscany on Accident") and Firenze Inn ("Did we forget the Free Wine and Beer?").