Homeless...again.

Besides waking up around 2:30 am to find a group of young people looking at us, I miraculously slept well. Unfortunately, Nick did not. I awoke before the sun came up and shook Nick from his light sleep. We wanted to catch an early train back to Nice, so we could continue our journey…not to mention that there were palace guards on the other side of the hill. The sun slowly rose as we made our way again over the hillside. The magnificent bright orange sunrise was breathtaking and totally worth Nick’s lack of sleep.

We took the short train ride back to Nice to grab our bags, and then headed toward La Spezia where the famous Cinque Terre is located. The train was very slow making many stops along the way. We switched trains in Genova, Italy and eventually got off at the first stop in Cinque Terre, which happened to be where the beach was in Cinque Terre. Unfortunately, we had nowhere to store our heavy backpacks (we asked and unsuccessfully tried bribing a few hotels), so we hauled them everywhere around the old city. It was here when we tried our first Italian pizza, which really exceeding our high expectations. 

Delicious Italian pizza.

After a few hours of strenuous walking/hiking, we collapsed on the beach and took an hour and half nap lying next to our bags.

Enjoying the view of Cinque Terre.

We awoke to find the sun starting to dip behind the mountains, so the crowded beach opened up. I rinsed the sand off with a nearby shower and awkwardly got dressed on the sandy beach without a towel. We were planning to spend the night in the mountains of Cinque Terre but realized we could catch an hour train to the college town of Pisa. It must have been about 9 pm when we boarded the train because we arrived in Pisa just after 10 pm.

Nick and I standing in front of the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

However, on the hour train ride to Pisa, we met an American named Victor. Victor is an engineer who designs flight simulators, which means he (along with his team) travels the world solving problems with these simulators too. His assignment has been Pisa, Italy for the last week or so, which means he was quite familiar with the town. He offered to show us the way to one of the Seven Wonders of the World—The Leaning Tower of Pisa. It’s about a 20-minute walk from the train station. Half way to our destination, Victor treated us to an incredible Italian dinner—lasagna! Victor is a devout Catholic, so we discussed religion for quite a while. As we asked questions and learned more about one another’s beliefs, we were all enriched. Victor is a great example of the type of Christian I hope to become—devoted husband and father, true follower of Jesus Christ, and a man who finds opportunities to bless the lives of others.

Our good friend, Victor.

After dinner we walked through the empty streets of Pisa to the tower. It was well after midnight by the time we got to the tower. The most dedicated street vendor was still trying to sell cheap, worthless trinkets. At night, the tower (built as a bell tower) is illuminated next to an old medieval Catholic cathedral. After taking a few pictures, we said goodbye to Victor and stood there in front of the tower wondering where we would spend the night.

We agreed to walk back to the train station and spend the night on the station floor. However, three minutes before reaching the train station, I heard English and stopped. I turned and saw three attractive girls sitting outside a café. Their accent was no doubt American and so we chatted with them for a few minutes with our bulky backpacks weighing us down. They had missed their train and were going to catch the same train as us to Florence and then to Rome. A few minutes of conversation turned into an hour. Then a hour turned into a tour of Pisa. This town is quite small and easy to navigate. 

Revisiting the tower a couple hours later with (from left) Heather, Kerry, and Lisa.

So between 2:00 and 3:00 am Nick and I led the way to Pisa, where the three American girls had not intended to visit. All three girls (Heather, Lisa, and Kerry) were accomplished young elementary school teachers who taught at a “turn-around” school. So from around 1:00 – 4:00 am we had great conversation until I collapsed from exhaustion on the 4:15 am train to Florence. 

Nick shook me awake around 5:30 am mentioning that he didn’t get any sleep because he sat next to a gypsy shouting on her cell phone. I didn’t have too much sympathy for him until he told me that this was the longest he has ever stayed up…in his life. I’ve come to accept “all-nighters” as a way of life but Nick is new to this. As we were saying goodbye to the girls, I heard Nick say, “Ugh..you’ve got to be kidding me!” Still very irritated by the loud gypsy, Nick’s irritation turned to EXTREME “frustration” when a pigeon splattered crap all over his left shoulder. I couldn’t help but think this whole situation was funny. We were both sleep deprived and homeless in Florence at 5:45 in the morning. Not caring how dirty the train station was, we tossed our bags into the closest corner of the train station and slept like homeless babies.