TXTransplant said:
SkiMo said:
blindey said:
The leaning tower of Pisa. Just tons of walking around taking pictures of one another doing the Thriller dance.
Seriously, it's worth seeing once, take your dumb photo, and move on. Oh and try to not get robbed in the utter **** hole that is the city of Pisa. Just get off the train, go see the tower and church and get right back on the train to somewhere better.
Honest question, why take the time to go just for a picture of a leaning tower? Not being shady, just honestly wonder what the big draw is for people? I think I would go and be like, why did we waste our time here when we could be winery hopping in Tuscany or exploring the Dolomites?
I think most people don't realize/know what a tourist trap it is. I know I didn't. I didn't have any burning desire to go, but it was part of our itinerary. I had no idea how cheesy it was. To me, it's totally unlike anything else in Europe...feels more like a third-rate theme park or a replica that you would see in Vegas than a historical church.
But I think a lot of people want to go see it for the same reasons they want to see the Eiffel Tower or Big Ben - it's an architectural landmark. And the Tower and the Basilica ~are~ beautiful. It's just everything surrounding them that's awful (in full disclosure, we went on a bus, so I didn't have the experience of walking from the train station, just the parking lot).
I hear ya. But to me, Pisa is a place you have to actually go out of the way to get to. Where as you don't go to Paris just to see the Eiffel Tower. The whole city is a piece of art. And Eiffel is the exclamation point. But I suppose if you're staying in Florence or around the area, you can make a quick trip out and back. I guess there are just a million places in Italy I want to see, and that's not anywhere close to the top. That's just personal preference though.
I do get that there is also the, "I've been there and seen that" factor which is different for everyone. I kind of like to think if I were at the end of my life, where would I regret not having gone?
We all have our preferences and travel differently, and that's how it's supposed to be. I could never travel with my sister, for example. She plans everything from morning till night. Would drive me insane!