A rainy day in Pisa

September 28, 2007. Pisa, Italy

We took a day trip out of Florence to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa. There's really not that much else in this little town except for the monument that attracts thousands every year. It is as impressive as you see it in pictures, the "crookedness" a little more obvious from a distance. It was a bit of a walk from the train station to the Tower. Paulo and I stopped to take photos of the town and we even stopped to have coffee on the way (I think just so I can use the toilet, which wasn't the cleanest!). As soon as we spotted the Tower, we also spotted the many souvenir hawkers on the side of the streets. Being tourists, we bought some kitschy stuff - magnets, snowglobes, postcards. It started to rain as we approached the Tower and saw that there were people climbing it. The line was too long, and Paulo and I hate lines. We'd probably only really line up for some spectacular concert, art exhibit... or beer. So we decided against climbing the Tower and to take some photos around it instead. I think we had an umbrella between the two of us and I had to hold it up every time he wanted to take a shot so his camera wouldn't get wet!
We were taking some silly "make it look like I'm pushing the Tower in place" when a Filipino woman walked past and said "Kumusta na po mga kababayan!" and I was so happy to hear her Tagalog that I said "Mabuti po!" I don't remember, but I am betting she took this shot. I could be wrong, in fact, I probably am. It was probably a nice tourist man who took it.