We stayed in a guest house/bed and breakfast place in a residential area a short walk from the tower. The guest house was an old two-storied place and Serena ran it from her house next door. It felt more like an old folks' home or a boarding house as there was an 86 year old lady and her few decades younger daughter living permanently at the house. The old lady would follow us around showing us light switches and the heaters, and pointing to something outside whilst yabbering to us in Italian. Her daughter would come in and usher her off to her room. When I got up to the toilet at 5am she was there ready to show me more light switches and heaters!
Pisa is a pretty small city and in half a day we had been to every sight listed in the tourist pamphlets. There were no queues at the tower but we still didn't bother to go up it.
In every town in Italy that we have been to there are hordes of dark-skinned men selling fake watches, umbrellas, sunglasses and handbags. They are from Senegal a former colony of France and living in the European Union are able to work in Italy.
They work right under these signs. It would seem logical to me to fine the guys rather than the tourists if they are serious about stopping the sale of fraudulent goods!
There were a few nice squares like this one in Piazza Cavalieri.
