This is a pic of "Colonel Sanders" at the computer, I forgot to put his pic on yesterday, and I think it was worth seeing if your image of him matched the pic. :)
Today was travel day part two. We took the overnight train from Bari to Pisa (through Rome) - this was the same route we had taken when we left Rome, and it only took 4 hours. Now we were going back, and it said it was 6 hours. We weren't sure how that was possible. But this was a sleeper train - we had our own compartment (it really was like Harry Potter, with the door that closed it), or we thought we did. When we got on and in, our compartment overheads and seats were filled with other people's luggage. The train was going to roll, so I just started putting things out in the hall so we could get our bags in and sit. Then this german guy, with a half full bottle of wine in his hand, comes in and says that his friend has one of these seats, and they told them it was ok because it wasn't a full train... May not be a full train, but its a full compartment. We only put things above *our* four seats and they told us we needed to regulate space.. Well they had more stuff than us, and there were only two of them. Apparently they found another compartment because they left us in peace. We planned to take the overnight train because it would serve two purposes, not waste our days on the travel, and save expense for a hotel for that night. But we didn't get beds for this train, so we got to try and figure out how to get some quality sleep sitting up. The first few stops, every time we stopped our door slid open with a thud. After that, the train went much slower (thus the extra two hours) - and the door stayed shut. And really we slept pretty well, considering, just a few kinks in the morning - and no shower in the morning.
We got to Rome about 6am and then had a 2 hour layover before catching the train to Pisa. 
We freshened up a little, killed some tim
e by 
shopping in the train station grocery store (more like a walgreens, but with more variety of food). I'm posting some pics of the kinds of things that we found - octopus that you can just buy out of the frig section, QUAIL EGGS (! What?? You could search all over St.Louis and not find a quail egg, but in the limited selection food items at the Train Station in Rome you can buy a dozen quail eggs??) - and just other stuff that made us laugh. Hotdogs named BIGGER - and "hot" chips named Fonzie's (Ayyy!).. Oh and a Martini soda.
We freshened up a little, killed some tim
e by 
shopping in the train station grocery store (more like a walgreens, but with more variety of food). I'm posting some pics of the kinds of things that we found - octopus that you can just buy out of the frig section, QUAIL EGGS (! What?? You could search all over St.Louis and not find a quail egg, but in the limited selection food items at the Train Station in Rome you can buy a dozen quail eggs??) - and just other stuff that made us laugh. Hotdogs named BIGGER - and "hot" chips named Fonzie's (Ayyy!).. Oh and a Martini soda. Caught the train with no problem and had some beautiful views 
as we traveled up the west coast to Pisa. When we arrive, it is POURING down rain - sheets of rain... Dang! We dropped off bags at the "suitcase in a box" place (we're pros now), and found the bus to the Tower. We're getting pretty good at Italian public transit too. The oddest thing to us is that you buy bus tickets at the nearby tobacco shops (Tabacchi) - so bizarre that you don't buy them at a public transit booth or something. But in a country filled with smokers, I guess it makes sense that you can get a pack of cigarettes, a girly mag and a bus ticket from the same vendor. We get off at the tower stop and its still raining ...I had my reeeeally cheap umbrella from London (which blew out), Patti had packed one, Amy made due with just a ball cap, and Dana bought an umbrella from one of the hundreds of umbrella salesmen that just pop out of nowhere when it starts to rain.
as we traveled up the west coast to Pisa. When we arrive, it is POURING down rain - sheets of rain... Dang! We dropped off bags at the "suitcase in a box" place (we're pros now), and found the bus to the Tower. We're getting pretty good at Italian public transit too. The oddest thing to us is that you buy bus tickets at the nearby tobacco shops (Tabacchi) - so bizarre that you don't buy them at a public transit booth or something. But in a country filled with smokers, I guess it makes sense that you can get a pack of cigarettes, a girly mag and a bus ticket from the same vendor. We get off at the tower stop and its still raining ...I had my reeeeally cheap umbrella from London (which blew out), Patti had packed one, Amy made due with just a ball cap, and Dana bought an umbrella from one of the hundreds of umbrella salesmen that just pop out of nowhere when it starts to rain. We walked into the piazza (its walled, so you get a nice reveal when you come through the opening)... And there it is... Its really leaning. Of course completely overshadowed by the tower are the Baptistry and the Cathedral and they both have more ornate architecture - gorgeous. We cling to the little souvenir shops along the right side of the walk
way (In the pic where Patti is holding up the tower you can see the awnings we're under) - and Amy and Dana find inexpensive leather purses they like (Amy didn't end up buying her because it had a nick). We take a few pics and walk up close to it - but then decide that we'll try what we did in London and go to a restaurant and hope the rain blows over. Since we've been in Pisa we've heard a lot more people around us using English, and the personnel use at least some English - we're back in touristy Italy, so we have to rely less on our sign language. We found a place and each had pizzas - nothing special, but we just wanted something hot that was still fairly light (as opposed to a 4 course meal) - we've decided that we're pizza'd out for this trip. And maybe for a while when we get home. Pizza has a one-to-one relations
hip here (as Mrs. Murphy says), they're enough to share, but if you have two people and order one pizza, they look at you like they have three heads. We head out (after the really long dance to try and get the check - takes just as long or longer to get the check as it does to order and eat) - and our plan worked! It is sunny and no rain!
hip here (as Mrs. Murphy says), they're enough to share, but if you have two people and order one pizza, they look at you like they have three heads. We head out (after the really long dance to try and get the check - takes just as long or longer to get the check as it does to order and eat) - and our plan worked! It is sunny and no rain! We get a few more pics and decide to get tickets to the top - if you didn't know what they were doing, the number of people standing in the middle of the road with both hands held out in front of them would be alarming. I almost took a picture of all the silly people holding out their hands. We didn't have a reservation to go to the top, and I know to get to the top of the statue of liberty you have to have them 6 months in advance to get to the top... But we just waited an hour (and shopped, Dana bought a cute leather purse). You have to check your bags in a locker before you go up, no bags allowed, only cameras. Thank goodness, we didn't want to carry them up all those stairs anyway. Patti didn't go up - not comfortable with the leaning thing, and the open air thing and height... so we forged on and she sat below. We actually got a picture of her, and if you look reeeeeeally closely at the steps you can see an orange dot - that's her
The stairs are in a spiral inside the building, and we knew we had to go at least 8 flights up, and then we had the option to 
go up more into the really narrow steps that went to the bell tower - over 300 steps. You can definitely tell when you're going "down lean" (and my new term).. Down the grade? Better? We're going up and up and up (high stone steps, so each step is a conscious effort) - but when you go down lean it almost like you're walking on just a slightly graded surface... But when you turn the spiral and hit "up lean" - whoa! Its double the gradient, up the stairs and up the lean... Luckily on the even floors there were windows and a slightly wider area to stop and "take pictures" (or to try and stop huffing so loudly). We hit floor 4 and whoa. Half way?? But we keep going and at about the 6th floor you go outside and go up to the next levels with just graded ramps. Whew!
go up more into the really narrow steps that went to the bell tower - over 300 steps. You can definitely tell when you're going "down lean" (and my new term).. Down the grade? Better? We're going up and up and up (high stone steps, so each step is a conscious effort) - but when you go down lean it almost like you're walking on just a slightly graded surface... But when you turn the spiral and hit "up lean" - whoa! Its double the gradient, up the stairs and up the lean... Luckily on the even floors there were windows and a slightly wider area to stop and "take pictures" (or to try and stop huffing so loudly). We hit floor 4 and whoa. Half way?? But we keep going and at about the 6th floor you go outside and go up to the next levels with just graded ramps. Whew! 
We got to an area with railings and we thought we were at the top, and then they told us, "ok, you go up" - and we went up through the VERY narrow steps to the very top! Wow. What views, and a nice breeze - totally w
orth it.
orth it. 
We get our ticket at the Tabacchi and get back on the bus going back to the train station - get our bags (which took a little of the skill we'd learned as a line jumper)... Our train was in 15min, and there were hoards of people waiting because the attendent was on a break. Lots of people were in line ahead of us, but Patti and the others got in there just after the attendent when we opened the doors. I saw some french ladies make the same motion and faces about them that we make about the people line jumping us. Felt good to be on the other end of it. :)
The train to Florence was without incident, an
d its walking distance from our hotel. The street where we are is called hotel city, and we have a very nice place - kind of a mix between a hostel and a hotel. We have a "quad" - which means it sleeps four. There are two twin beds and one double in the room, and that's pretty much it - tall ceilings, and two huge windows with shutter that open out to Florence. Wow. Its on the 2nd floor, which we know by now means 3rd. The ground floor here is 0.. Basement is -1...
d its walking distance from our hotel. The street where we are is called hotel city, and we have a very nice place - kind of a mix between a hostel and a hotel. We have a "quad" - which means it sleeps four. There are two twin beds and one double in the room, and that's pretty much it - tall ceilings, and two huge windows with shutter that open out to Florence. Wow. Its on the 2nd floor, which we know by now means 3rd. The ground floor here is 0.. Basement is -1... There is really cool art hung everywhere
, we 
have a great hostess, breakfast in the morning (we think free), free internet, huge shower (that is really just a drain in the floor with a curtain across, and the bidet is in the shower). We also have intimate cleanser... Which we don't use. But our showers do feel mighty good.
, we 
have a great hostess, breakfast in the morning (we think free), free internet, huge shower (that is really just a drain in the floor with a curtain across, and the bidet is in the shower). We also have intimate cleanser... Which we don't use. But our showers do feel mighty good. We ask
ed for a good restaurant, and there is one just 5 paces across the street (no curbs on the "street" - more like a narrow cobblestone alley) -we get at least 3 menus... The regular one, the "fresh today" (hand written specials menu), and the 2 courses for 13 Euro. World Cup playing, of course. We order the brushetta for those yummy tomatoes and we are corrected by our waitress, it is bru-*sket*ta... And Patti is getting the gnochi - 
which she was corrected Gno-KEY (note the emphasis). Amy has riddichio Risotto and Dana has the baked lasagna and a salad. But the lasagna came first, so we'll see. And I got the "cow" with balsamic vinegar. When she was describing the specials she always said "cow" for beef... And it was amazing cow! 
ed for a good restaurant, and there is one just 5 paces across the street (no curbs on the "street" - more like a narrow cobblestone alley) -we get at least 3 menus... The regular one, the "fresh today" (hand written specials menu), and the 2 courses for 13 Euro. World Cup playing, of course. We order the brushetta for those yummy tomatoes and we are corrected by our waitress, it is bru-*sket*ta... And Patti is getting the gnochi - 
which she was corrected Gno-KEY (note the emphasis). Amy has riddichio Risotto and Dana has the baked lasagna and a salad. But the lasagna came first, so we'll see. And I got the "cow" with balsamic vinegar. When she was describing the specials she always said "cow" for beef... And it was amazing cow! 
Angela (Graves - shout out to Angela and Judy, our left behind Ya-yas this trip!) asked if people look at us weird when we take pics of the food.. And yes they do. But we don't care. :). Maybe they have their own blog and that entry reads, "Today some strange Americans came into the place, they took pictures of their food before anyone could eat). Sometimes when we're hungry we take a few bites and then remember... Last night the Bru-sket-a was gone before.. But it was goood.They have no need to make sure everyone gets their food at the same time. Dana and Amy were eating their meals and almost finished the time we got ours - and then Dana got her salad after her lasagna.. Of course.
Amy said she is tired of eating.. Tired of chewing. What?? Me no capisce. She ordered this Italian beer that we actually found in London, "Peroni" - but they thought she said Corona and gave her a funny look. We all had a laugh together. After dinner we walked half a block down to get gelato.. I had choc chip and Patti had mint choc chip (1 euro if you take away, costs more if you sit) - and Amy had amoretto, same size cup for 2 Euro.. She asked why? "More flavor"... Ahhh of course. Today we're getting ready to head out and see Florence! Ciao for now! More soon!
FYI: My mother is going to want to grill you guys when you get back. She's dying to go to Italy. She wants to know if you think an old lady like her can do it. (Walking, etc)
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