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We drove to Pisa and found a parking spot in what we thought was a safe area but apparently not because 18 months later we received a ticket for driving in a restricted area. Anyway we parked and then walked along in the direction everyone else was going, this is something we learnt in Italy in all the prime tourists destinations, if you are not sure which way to go just follow the crowds and we eventually came to a street lined with cafes and restaurants where we could see the tower over the top of all the buildings. This intrigued me to think this iconic building was just down the end of the road. It was lunchtime so we found a cafe that had spare seating and sat down and ordered lunch before visiting the tower. As we did with all our meals in cafes and restaurants throughout Italy we all ordered Italian fare, you can't go wrong doing this and we loved the variety of fresh foods, pastas and pizzas on offer. After lunch we walked the 100 metres to the walled area of Pisa where the leaning tower is. I was expecting just to find the tower but the cathedral complex is much more than this, there are four magnificent buildings within the walls and the walls themselves are worth seeing. We spent quite awhile here wandering around the various buildings with the large number of other tourists visiting that day. We were fascinated by the hundreds of people trying to take the obligatory photo holding up the tower or pushing it over some of the positions were very comical. You can climb the tower and visit the other buildings but there was quite a queue on the day we visited and I would think this is the norm so this would probably be a good activity to book ahead.
