Our last few days of Italy sightseeing was a flash trip of everything we could do. We went to the coastal city of Genoa, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and checked out Rick Steve’s Renaissance walk in Florence. It was a whirlwind of trains, landmarks, statues, and walking! We appreciated the chance to see some of Italy’s famous sights.

Our first stop was Genoa. The Italian name is Genova, but somewhere along the way it lost the “v” in English. We drove there with a few other people, and they went with Sarah on a city tour while Jamie and I went to the aquarium. The Acquario di Genova is one of the largest aquariums in Europe, and we enjoyed seeing the variety of fish and other animals. Jamie’s favorites were the stingrays and the jellyfish. The stingrays were in a petting pool, but they were a little difficult to touch because they liked to swim at the very bottom. We finally were able to touch one, and Jamie was surprised by the rough skin. In fact, because they are called “sting” rays, she thinks that it stung her! The jellyfish were in deep blue water with mystical music. There were jellyfish in all stages of life, and we liked the baby ones because they looked like snowflakes.

After Genoa, our friends drove back home and Sarah, Jamie, and I took the train on to Pisa. It was dark when we arrived, but we decided to see the Leaning Tower anyway. It was beautiful in the dark, and we took advantage of the fact that not many people were around to take the stereotypical “pushing down the Tower” pictures. Jamie didn’t quite know what we were doing, but she jumped right in!

The next morning, we decided to take the train to Florence. Florence is filled with beautiful architecture, sculpture, and paintings. We didn’t see the museums because they would have required either a long wait in line or advance tickets, but we did follow travel expert Rick Steve’s audio tour of Florence. We learned a lot of interesting facts. I think my favorite part was the replica of Michelangelo’s David in front of the Palazzo Vecchio. According to Rick Steves, the real David used to stand there, but there were lots of riots in Florence, so it was moved inside and a replica was placed in front of the Palazzo instead. While we enjoyed the history and architecture, Jamie enjoyed chasing the pigeons. I guess there is something for everyone!

Our final day we spent back in Pisa seeing the Leaning Tower of Pisa in the daylight. We enjoyed watching everyone else take their touristy pictures, and even got pictures of people lined up all doing the same pose! The most surprising part to me was how beautiful and well-preserved the building is. You could almost assume it is a replica because it is so pristine. It hardly looks like it has withstood nearly one thousand years of weathering, not to mention a poor foundation!

So there was our whirlwind tour of Italy! We enjoyed seeing the sights, but were glad to be able to sit down on the train ride home.