Day 3

After having breakfast in our cabin, we got ready to go on our excursion to Pisa.  Pisa is about a 40-minute drive from Livorno.  Our guide, David, was very good but clearly more used to primary school groups!

We were told numerous times where the meeting point was and had to synchronise our watches every few minutes.  We thought it was only a matter of time before we were told to walk in a crocodile in pairs!  We then realised what the trouble was – we seemed to have found ourselves on a tour with the Repubican Presidential candidate – in fact he was campaigning in Pisa under the name of Trumpy Tours!

The Leaning Tower of Pisa didn’t disappoint.  It’s a fine structure, now stabilised and restored.  The people of Pisa must be very pleased that it does indeed lean as it is a popular tourist attraction.  The cathedral and baptistry were also attractive.

We travelled very light with a minimum of valuables as we remembered from the last time we were here that one of our dinner companions was robbed in Pisa by young gypsies.  However we needn’t have worried.   There were armed guards swarming round and all the ‘undesirables’ weren’t allowed into the Field Of Miracles where the buildings were.

We got back to the ship at about 1.30 and had yet another delicious meal in the dining room.

But before we knew it, it was time for afternoon tea .....

River Arno - also flows through Florence and flooded with disastrous consequences 50 years ago this year

Is she really trying I wonder?!

Oh, look, it's Gulliver in Brobdignag

It's that man again!

They've straightened the Tower, but now the Cathedral's started leaning ...

We know that Romulus went on to found the City of Rome, but rather less well known is that his brother Remus went into the French brandy business!

River Arno again.  The weather looks very threatening on these photo but wasn't actually as bad as it looks ...