So, we made our way to the ticket counter hoping to convert those credit tickets into our train tickets. When we got there, all counters were closed. We saw a uniformed guy standing in the middle of the station and we approached him. He told us that the trains were on strike today till 11pm and the counters will only open tomorrow morning.
'Not again! I thought the worst was over.' I thought to myself.
So, our Amazing Race continues. Initially, we were quite lucky to have known that Pisa airport was just 10 minutes away from the city centre of Pisa and there was a Terravision bus service feeding Florence to Pisa Airport from the train terminal. The question was, where are we supposed to catch that bus?
After asking for directions, getting lost as we were given the wrong direction, asked again, made a few circles around the train station, we managed to find where was this bus to Pisa airport stationed. When we got there, a bus was being boarded but the number of people waiting to get onto it indicated that at least 50% wouldn't be able to get a seat.
So, we watched the bus leave after the last lucky person got onto it. Not only the tourists were stranded, but the local people around the whole of Italy were stranded due to the train strike. Lucky for us, the bus conductor started taking down reservations for the next bus and we managed to put our group down.
As I was trying desperately to ask how much was the bus fare to Pisa airport while almost being swallowed by the huge group of people fighting to get their reservation down, one of the lady who was waiting to go up to the same bus turned and told me in perfect English that it was 10 euros. From then on, we made a new acquaintance. She was a local doing her PhD at a university in Pisa and the best thing was, she spoke perfect English without a hint of accent. While we were waiting for the next bus, she even recommended 2 hotels for us to spend our night and which part of Pisa should we visit.
After almost an hour of waiting and rushing off to buy McDonalds in between, our bus arrived and we had secured seats. I was seriously worried if we could make our way to Pisa as we would need to get there no matter what by 6am tomorrow morning or we won't be able to fly back to Liverpool.
There were so many sunflowers on the bus ride from Florence to Pisa. Our new friend even guided us all the way from the airport, taking the local bus to the city centre. When we thought that our Amazing Race was over, a road block came along.
The bus journey was uneventful till we reached this bridge which had one of its 2 lanes closed for construction. Our bus driver saw his collegue waiting at the start of the bridge, stopped the bus, and his collegue informed him that the bridge was closed. He tried to do a U-turn at that point, but by that time, all the traffic behind him had already stationed really close and there wasn't any space for him to reverse.
One of the passenger even went down to direct the traffic. As the bus driver manoevred away from the bridge, so many of the cars overtaked him and just drove onto the bridge and disappeared from sight never to reappear again. That does indicate that the bridge can be used right? In the end, the driver decided to take the risk of driving through the bridge, and we got down at the stop to our hotel safely. Phew......now I can say for definite that our Amazing Race has reached an end.
We quickly checked-in. Luckily there were still rooms available. Threw our bags down, and made our way to the leaning tower of Pisa.
We reached there around 9pm....sun was almost gone, but the view was magnificent. 
We were glad that we bought McDonalds prior to boarding our bus as we were starving by that time. Others must be wondering why these 3 tourists came all the way to the leaning tower of Pisa, sat at the footsteps of the Duomo, just to eat McDonalds, while admiring the leaning tower. I could even see other tourists pointing to our food curious to whether was there a McDonalds nearby which of course, there wasn't. McDonalds should pay us commission for promoting it at this strategic area. 
The Duomo was located just next to the leaning tower. 
Different poses with the leaning tower. Very few due to the poor lighting and limitations of our cameras. 
The whole tower was constructed from white marble. I could just sit there and stare at it in awe for a few hours. 
You can see the obvious inclination at the base of the tower in relation to the ground. 
Yes, we paid that 15 euros to climb the tower. We were the 2nd last group to ascend it. Time was limited to only 45 minutes for each group including climbing time. 
If you don't climb it, you wouldn't know how challenging the uneven steps from the years of wear and tear was, how much the inclination affected your balance, how that adds to the difficulty in ascending it. 
First stop for us to catch our breaths. We kindly let the people behind us overtake us. Hahahahaha.
This was one of the most relieved time when I was glad that I am not horizontally challenged. Certain parts seriously had the narrowest staircase! 
We thought we had reached the top by that time.....There was no point in taking photos at this time of the night as we can't even prove that we're up the tower. This could be taken anywhere but we did take it when we were up the tower. 
M's shortcut to the top....she could use the excuse that she didn't read Italian. It was just an act. She couldn't have gotten past the guards even if she wanted to. 
Bells around the tower. 
We were lucky that we were the 2nd last group to ascend the tower. They didn't chase us down even though we were supposed to go down after our 45 minutes were up. So, we spent most of the time admiring the view from up there. 
View of the Duomo and Baptistry from the tower. Breathtaking. 
One genuinely scared of heights and another scared of dropping her belongings. 
We got a bit crazy on our way down. It was worth every cent to climb it. Worth being the 2nd last to go up as we got to spend more than an hour up there. 
On our way back, the view from one of the bridge was so beautiful with the lights and buildings reflected so clearly in the water. 
That concludes my entry on my trip a.k.a. Amazing Race around Italy covering 4 places in 4 days. Phew.......Take a breath now.
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