When you travel one of the considerations is how many bags are you going to need to take and what is the airline you are traveling on going to charge for those bags. When you figure what the cost of your airfare will be you need to add these fees in to see what the true comparison in cost is.

It seems like time I travel I take move electronics with me. One of the other things that has changed is I always look to see that the hotel I am staying in has free wifi. This last trip I took a cell phone, tablet, eReader, and a laptop. They have become essential. Am I a workaholic… yes I guess I am. I really tried once to unplug for a trip but darn it..just wasn’t as much fun!

Before you exit the train station at Pisa look for the sign in the front lobby that says Tobacchi. I would assume that this is just a tobacco shop, not so, they sell bus tickets here too. The ticket when I was there was 1€. Look to your right and across the street as you exit the station. Look for the building NH Cavalieri. This is the bus stop. The bus will have an electronic sigh that says Lam Rossa. The bus is yellow and has a red strip on the front bumper. Check with the driver before boarding and as for the Torre stop. You will see the Field of Miracles piazza and the Leaning Tower of Pisa through an arch just across from where the bus stops.

Get off the bus and go through the gates. It will open to the piazza where the Cathedral, Baptistery, and Leaning Tower of Pisa are..

The Baptistery is the first building. It is a cylinder shaped building almost as tall the Leaning Tower with a large dome topping it. The cathedral is the square looking building next to the Baptistery and then you can’t miss the Leaning tower of Pisa. The Memorial Cemetery is a short walk to the side of the Cathedral and along the main walkway are two museums and tourist souvenir shops lining the sidewalk. It is a busy place so don’t get separated. The funniest site is everyone trying to outdo  the other in a pose with the Leaning Tower of Pisa. There are several standard poses one pose is to look as if they were holding up the tower, another one is to bend over so it appeared the tower is leaning on their back, and of course there is the one holding it up with one finger or pretending to try to push it back straight.

We first went to the museum bought our tickets. It is located straight ahead of where you entered and on your right. It is where there are many of the original drawing for the frescps that are famous. They are light drawing and were the pattern for the paintings. Visiting this museum before going to the other buildings was a good education and made the many paintings and frescos much more interesting.

In the Baptistery the Font is beautiful with a statue of St. John the Baptist rising above the font. They did a sound demonstration that reminded me of monks humming. The guide stood at the  side of the font and sang long tones. Each tone rung out and echoed out from under the dome and about the font.

If you can time it so that you are there for a sound demonstration it will be very memorable. I can still hear it quite impressive.

Debbie Gerber and Boomer & Senior Travel TV take a day trip from Florence Italy to Siena Italy by train and bus. Siena Italy is old world Italy. Travel to Italy with a side trip to Siena. See the Duomo de Siena, the Palazzo Publicco, She wolf, siena train, siena bus, Fountain of Joy, Piazza del Campo, and other things to see and do in Siena Italy.

Having trouble viewing this video? Try the Quicktime Version.

Going by train anywhere in Europe is easy and their transportation system is well organized. We traveled from Rome to Florence and then did day trips for Florence to Pisa and Siena. We were able to do both places in one day. It required that we got up early.

When you arrive at the train station they have electronic board with the information as to which platform you train will be on and what time it will leave.

We checked the board and the train was coming into the station so we jog to the platform…we got there just in time. We climbed on the train with no time to spare. One of our party was in a wheel chair? We found that in most of Italy’s preparation for handicap people without prior arrangements was sparse. If you have this need you may want to make prior arrangements or have someone with you that can help you with the chair while you get out of it for short periods of time to get off curbs and up stairs. You can reserve in advance for a first class train with a wheel chair lift.

In places that the wheelchair didn’t have access our friend would get up and walk up the stair or board the train. We didn’t know about 1st class.

For luggage there is usually a rack at the ends of each car and a shelf over the seats for smaller items. In the AV or fast trains offered a snack bar that had sandwiches and drinks in one of the cars. It was a bit pricy but that is what you would expect. On the AV or fast trains you will have a reserved seat. It help people be more friendly if you find and sit in that seat.