When I was a wee child, I used to enjoy watching Disney movies, as most children do. One of the movies I loved was A Goofy Movie, and in that movie is a scene I used to quote often with my friends. I thought it was absolutely hilarious when one of the characters used cheese wizz to make a leaning tower of cheese, which he called: “a leaning tower of cheeza.”

To this day I think of that scene when anyone refers to the Leaning Tower of Pisa. After my recent trip to Rome I wanted to make a pit stop in Pisa to see the tower, because it was an easy detour on the drive back to Germany. Upon arrival there was more to meet the eye than I expected. I didn’t realize there was a cathedral next to the tower, which was just as beautiful.

It took a while to find parking, and after battling the parking meter trying to decipher what it was saying (it was all in Italian) we walked about half a mile to see the tower. There were of course plenty of other people around trying to get a view of the tower as well, and it was comical watching everyone taking the popular photo of them holding up the tower.

Guilty…

It took my mom and I quite a few tries to get a somewhat decent photo, but in the end my strength prevailed. I originally planned to climb the tower, but after realizing it was nearly 20 euros to climb, I decided it wasn’t worth it. Instead we walked all the way around the tower before walking around the town of Pisa for lunch.

The town of Pisa is small, but adorable. We found a restaurant close enough to the tower, but far enough away that it didn’t feel overly touristy to enjoy some lunch. We had eaten pizza twice before during our visit to Italy, and both times we were skunked by less than stellar quality. Third time was the charm, and having pizza in Pisa was the golden ticket because this pizza was AMAZING.

The pizza was the side of my torso, and my mom, my sister, and I gobbled it up without a crumb to spare.  I came to Italy, and I had amazing pizza – success (although I’ve read pizza isn’t really a true Italian meal.) After we finished lunch we headed back towards the car for the long, albeit beautiful drive back to Bavaria. This was a great pit stop, and I am glad I finally got to see the tower in real life.

This sums up my family trip to Italy, it was such a great time seeing my mom and my sister. This was both of their first trips to Europe, and I know it won’t be their last. It was stressful at times planning this trip, and playing tour guide, (I just want everyone to have a good time) but it was all worth it to spend a week with them abroad.

Big thanks to my friend Pam for watching my cat, the only other soul that I trust aside from my mom taking care of my fur child. Without her this trip would not have been possible! ❤

Q: Do you enjoy planning trips? I do this once a month, sometimes it can be a lot!