Italy 2018 | Tuscany & Torture Museums

For Italy Part One, please click here.

After leaving Strasbourg, we were set for another full day of driving and we were incredibly lucky, as driving from France to Italy meant we had to drive through the magical Switzerland. Guys, I have never been to Switzerland before and it’s never been top of my list, but woweee, now I’m eager to go back for a little cabin break. Switzerland is one of the most beautiful places I have ever had the pleasure of seeing with my own two eyes. Oh wowee, what a dream.

Switzerland is mountain central. So many mountains. And also, so many tunnels. Ha ha. And gorgeous lakes and waterfalls. Switzerland is a dream. A magical, mystical dream which I’m so happy I got to see. I love Switzerland! It’s a breath-taking place and I’m so looking forward to the future when I get to go back and explore more of the country.

Driving through Switzerland took a good few hours and then eventually, by the time evening had arrived, we were driving through the border and into Italia! Hurray. We had made it. Almost. We still had to get to our hotel in San Gimignano, Tuscany, which was an adventure in itself.

I’m sure Mack can relate judging by this post, but guys, we were stressing. Our phones were dying and on minimum percent, and we were still using them for our directions (we don’t have a satnav in our car so it’s phone maps for us). Miraculously, my mums battery lasted until we finally found the town we were staying in, and my mum is convinced we had a guardian angel looking over us because if it wasn’t for her phone, we would have been stranded in the middle of nowhere. It was so hard driving in the dark, not knowing where we were going, God bless my dad, he did so good and thank goodness we found the hotel when we did. Any longer and we would have been stuck!

Our hotel was located in San Gimignano, an old medieval town in Tuscany. We stayed there for two nights and had a beautiful time in the beautiful Tuscany. Can I just say, Tuscany is a dream. I guess this post is all about the dreamy locations right, what with Switzerland and everything. But uh, seriously, the gorgeous fields upon fields in Tuscany are breath-taking. And I am officially in love. I will own a house there one day. It’s dreamy!

Because we arrived so late to our hotel, we pretty much went straight to bed after grabbing a drink and an ice cream. The following day, I awoke to the most beautiful view from my bedroom window of the gorgeous Tuscan fields. Wow. I’d give anything to be back there.

We grabbed some breakfast, and then decided to drive into Pisa so we could check out the Leaning Tower. My Dad has seen it before, so he was laughing before we arrived knowing what to expect. Ok, so the leaning tower of Pisa is pretty tiny. Not too tiny, but I guess not as big as you’d expect. And if I’m honest, other than the tower, there wasn’t really much going on in Pisa. Like spending a few hours there was more than enough, and I wouldn’t recommend staying there for a weekend or anything. I’m glad we went and saw the tower, which was all unassuming and cute, but other than that, Pisa is just Pisa!

Of course whilst in Pisa, we had to take the typical touristy photos, which I clearly failed massively at. My attempt at ‘pushing the tower back up’ is embarrassing, but it was also absolutely hilarious watching other people posing too. Oh my goodness, so amusing. I love it! I made sure to get some pizza too for a photo op, so I could say I had pizza in Pisa. A bucket list tick, for real.

Once we had seen the tower, we drove back to Tuscany where we chilled for the evening and I bought a super cute floppy sunhat. So adorable. Then, we went for dinner at this really cute restaurant called Riccapizza where I had a delicious pesto pasta dish. WOW. Guys, I don’t even want to think about this food rn because it’s making me hungry soo much. I wish I could eat that delicious meal right now. It was so yummy. The pesto was stronger than I’m used to but oh so delicious, and I would like it again right now please. Yum.

We went to bed that night full and happy, after a fantastic day exploring Italia.
The following morning was our last morning in Tuscany, and after discovering a Torture Museum in the little town, I managed to convince my parents to come in with me. One ticket is 10 euros and you have to be over 16 (or 18, I can’t remember exactly) to enter (for good reason). The ticket grants you access to both museums, the torture museum and the death penalty museum. Shudddder.

By the end of the experience, I had to literally run out of the museum because I was heaving so much if I didn’t get out of there asap, I was going to be sick. I am so thankful to be alive in this century and not in the olden days when this torture existed. Some of the most horrific forms of torture I learnt about include –

*WARNING, GRAPHIC CONTENT NOT FOR THE FAINT HEARTED*

– Dismemberment: the punished having each limb tied to a different horse (one leg tied to one horse, the other tied to another, each arm tied to two different horses), followed by the horses charging in different directions, therefore ripping the limbs from the body

– head crushers: self explanatory

– caging: where the punished was put in a cage and left to starve to death. Sometimes the cage wasn’t even shaped like a standard cube cage, it was formed to shape around the persons individual body, therefore fully trapping them and giving them no room to move

But one of the worst of all which really made me practically vom, was very similar to caging. But grosser (can you even believe that’s possible lol)? The punished was placed in a metal box outside, left to starve to death. However because the box was metal, by the time the victim had died, their body usually would have melted and stuck to the box, thanks to the box being outdoors and the sun heating up the metal. Ew x1000.

It was after reading about the metal box that I promptly ran out of the museum gagging, never to return again. My mum said she really thought I was going to be sick, had I stayed in there any longer, I would have been.

The Torture Museum was an interesting experience and I’m glad I did it, because it for sure made for a good ol’ story to tell and I love telling others what I witnessed, however the only way I’d ever revisit is if I go back to San Gimignano with someone who hasn’t been before and they really want to go!

Leaving on an… interesting note, soon after running out of the Torture Museum it was time to say goodbye to Tuscany (brb while I cry) and make our way to sunny Sorrento.

Guys, the car journey to Sorrento took a lifetime. I was so bored. And I ended up reading a whole book in one go it took so long! I’m not normally one to read in the car but I was so over napping and listening to music and I spotted a book my dad had left in the back pocket of his seat so I was like, eh, I’ll give that a read. Ok so technically I finished the last couple of chapters at the hotel when we arrived in Sorrento but having come so far, I was determined to finish it in one go, and I did! The book I read is called Death On The Dordogne and it’s a murder mystery, it’s a pretty easy read but unpredictable and I really enjoyed it!

What books have you read recently? How long does it usually take you to finish a book? Have you ever been to Pisa? Let me know in the comments below.

Thank you all for reading,

love,

Jennie

♥