Pisa

We enjoyed our free breakfast at our cute Wayfarer Hotel. So many pastries and yogurt and meats, and a super yummy pear juice. Chefs kiss. 

The view from the window downstairs. The girls little loft room is up the stairs. 

We had about an hour drive to Pisa and couldn’t check in to our Airbnb till 4, so we planned to hit the beach. There were nicer rated beaches on a little island that would have required a ferry and been a little out of our way. So we decided to go to a beach close to our Airbnb. Big mistake. 🤣 

We parked and paid for our street parking and went in search of the beach, which should have been easy enough because it’s a huge coastline. The first sign we came to very clearly said “no free beach,” so we kept going. Then we came to this sign and thought it looked promising. The first beach we came to was nice and had changing rooms and a little bar/restaurant, so the girls started changing and when I went to buy waters I learned that it was a special section of beach reserved only for police officers - that’s what Lido Polizia Di Stato means. Oopsie. 

Next we checked out Lido Viciente where you had to rent an umbrella and chairs for €25. They pointed us to the teeny tiny, kind of messy section of free beach. With no changing station, shade, or amenities. We also checked out Le Dune, but that appeared to be tiny little overnight cabins, so we went back to Lido Viciente and asked how much he’d charge us for the 3 hours we wanted to swim. He’d charge us €20, dear reader, and I’m here to say it was not worth it. They had an area of beach buoyed off that only went up to the waist, and within about 2 minutes of being there D and I found a jellyfish that we caught and promptly buried. We decided to play in the sand, so we made drip castles and Matt snorkeled, and we waded a bit, but saw more jellies and Frankie got a tiny sting, and one touched my foot but didn’t sting. Matt saw two big jellies while he was snorkeling, so he came in too. Whomp whomp. 

We decided to hang out till our parking ran out at 1:40, so we ended up paying €20 for less than 2 hours. What are you gonna do? 🤷‍♀️

There was a lighthouse in the distance, but I can’t for the life of me figure out which one, so maybe it wasn’t a lighthouse?

Thankfully Matt and I have developed a “we’re always learning” approach to traveling and we don’t get twirled up about things out of our control. Like lane beaches.And who knew the beaches here would be lame anyway? Not us.  

We found a picture taking spot and headed there and in search of food. 

And on our way we spied the Livorno Lighthouse that is still an active aid to navigation. 

We found a quick sandwich shop that closed at 3, so we hoofed it over and were their last customers. We’re everyone’s favorite. 

After our yummy lunch we grabbed gelato and crossed the street to our cute lookout and maybe spied another light?

To get out here you had to climb a fence, but everyone was doing it so our girls did to. 

A pensive adi out on a rock. 



The water over here was so clear, Delaney was itching to jump in!

Frankie and I meandered the boardwalk. 

The clear water also meant we could see all the jellies, which all appeared dead. 🤷‍♀️

Another view of the Livorno Lighthouse and the Livorno Diga Curvilinea Lighthouse. I think they’re like range lights maybe?

We wanted to get to our place right at 4 to get showered up and head into Pisa, so off we went. 

We had a miscommunication with our sweet Airbnb host so we ended up waiting for her for awhile and I was able to grab a pic of D with her “in-pods.” She got these knockoffs in San Merino, and so far she loves them. She’s using an old phone to take pictures and listen to books. 

We showered and started 2 loads of laundry and headed to Pisa. I had sprung for the €27 tickets so we could see all the buildings there, and then our climbing the tower time was 9:30. So when we arrived at 7 we discovered that all the other buildings closed at 6. Whomp whomp again. So we donated €35 to the Leaning Tower Foundation. They’re welcome. 

We had to take the pictures. 

We. Had. To. 

The three fun family members did at least. 

Then we traded picture taking with a nice British family that lives in the Cayman Islands. I don’t know that I knew people actually lived there, I thought it was just for offshore secret accounts and stuff. 

We walked around and perused the vendors until our time to climb. It was a nice time because it wasn’t crazy busy or crazy hot. 

Wouldn’t it be fun to go inside this pretty church? I thought it would. 

We had watched a video about how they’d fortified the tower to ensure it doesn’t fall, so that and seeing it from the inside made me feel better. 

Anyways, as soon as you walk into the tower you can feel the lean.

And there are no hand rails. 👀

We stopped at the landings to enjoy the views. 

Delaney counted the steps so the girls went on ahead of us. 

The top from the top. 

It’s giving liberty bell x3. 

It was so pretty to be up top during the sunset!









We sat and chatted and walked all the way around and enjoyed the sights, and then I was done being so high up so I headed down. 

You know I love a spiral staircase. 

The steps were totally worn in the middle so you had to be careful not to slip. 

I sat outside and soaked up the history. 

We often don’t plan meals and end up eating subpar food. So I looked up best places to eat in Pisa and found…

I Porci Comodi, the #1 restaurant on Trip Advisor and mentioned in a lot of our YouTube vids we watched. 

Frankie and Delaney weren’t very hungry, so we ordered a charcuterie platter for 2 and it was just the right amount. Matt and I enjoyed the prepared baguettes, but none of us are the biggest fans of the cured meats. We ate it, but it’s a one and done for us. I wouldn’t seek those meats out, but they’re not terrible and we enjoyed our late dinner. 

I did one more load of laundry when we got back home, and we couldn’t run the ac and the washing machine at the same time, so it was a little hot. 

We hung the laundry out on the line outside our 6th floor balcony. It’s a 5th floor in Italy because they call our 2nd floor a first floor. Weirdos. And that was our very learning day in Pisa.