Always obey Rick Steves

I received “Rick Steves’ Italian Phrase Book & Dictionary” as a gift from my Aunt Laura right before leaving the US.  And, boy, am I glad I did! 

Lauren giving Rick Steves a little love

Adair (a friend from HC) and I spent part of the flight from Boston to Frankfurt in stitches as we read the phrases that were supposed to be preparing us for our first taxi ride in Florence.  Some lines were quite sensible (Quanto costa fino...?/How much will it cost to go to...?) while others were downright absurd (Questo viaggio e piu divertente di Disneyworld/This ride is more fun than Disneyworld).

Upon arriving in Italy, we learned that not only do I have Rick Steves in phrase-book-form, but my HC friend Spencer also has Rick Steves’ overall Italian guidebook.  Clearly, Rick is now a part of our Holy Cross crew and joins in on all of our Italian adventures.

This past weekend, however, we made the amateur mistake of not consulting Rick Steves before venturing to Pisa.  In fact, we did not actually read Rick’s review on Pisa until we were lying out on the lawn next to the leaning tower.  FYI he says that Pisa is not even worth the stop...

Reading his very honest review...while already in Pisa

For those planning on going to Pisa, I suggest listening to Rick and rethinking it a bit.  Sure, we did get some pretty sweet, tourist pictures with the infamous tower... And yeah, we did have the luxurious experience of staying in a 2-star hotel with 4 beds and no bathroom, but all in all, I’d suggest crossing it off the list of places to see.

Don't let these awesome photos tempt you!