Pisa

       I won't sugar coat it, Pisa as a city was a huge disappointment. I would label it a one hour stop or a stop you might consider skipping altogether if in a money or time crunch. Other than viewing the tower, there was literally NOTHING to do. The city was completely run down and there weren't even more than a handful of places to eat. Capitalism was clearly a foreign concept and not only were we unimpressed by the town as a whole, we were also the most worried about being robbed during our time here.
       We did meet some really nice people in the process of picking up maps and buying bus tickets, but they were quick to warn us to be on the look out for Gypsies. There are a couple of bus routes in the city, but typically tourists are only interested in the one that takes you directly to the Leaning Tower from the train station. This route is frequented by Gypsies and if we hadn't taken him seriously before; we were, shall I say fortunate enough to watch as this same man after being tipped off by the bus driver sprinted out of his office to assail the aforementioned Gypsies before they could escape with more of the belongings of tourists unawares. He wasn't quite quick enough and they ran off, but we had learned our lesson and made sure to keep an eye on our purses and our surroundings.
       After our stop at the Leaning Tower and our very standard Pisa Tower photo-shoot we were at a complete loss for what to do from there. After asking around we finally found the correct bus route to take us to the beach and were saved by this idea, but if we hadn't left the city we would have been sitting in our rooms for the rest of the evening and eating in the same cafe in which we ate lunch. It was clear that we were one of very few tourists to venture out on this route and ended up at two spots that were very obviously local hot-spots. The first place we stopped was a rock beach. This was the first rock beach I had ever seen and it was an interesting change. It was very difficult and precarious to navigate, but luckily I found some help from a few nice men in speedo's. ;)
       We went for a nice swim in the pool sheltered by the rocks, but eventually decided we'd rather move on to a spot with sand to end our evening. We found a beach club and paid the entrance fee deciding it was worth it not to have to keep looking and ultimately that we'd much rather lay on a deck chair than be without them. It all worked out in the end, but my advice to you if you ever decide to visit Pisa would be to watch your purse and to only stop for an hour or two if you can swing it.