As the train drew closer, it was probably the expectation of the predictable or maybe because it was a college town (annoyingly optimistic students, irritating pedantic talk, rowdy drinking) but Pisa did not rouse that same excitement it had just a few months earlier. The tower was there; we were here. The visit felt almost compulsory. Even though the Leaning Tower was near the top of our list of attractions in Tuscany, why the change of heart?

I diagnosed it as an acute episode of misanthropy, which had been steadily brewing over the last week. They were just everywhere; these foreign tourists (wrinkling nose). So numerous I had begun categorizing them into groups.

The Complainers. The ones who were most vocal about how different things were from back home, as though everyone and everything had to change to suit their whims. The service was always too slow. The food tasted nothing like what they were used to. The looks of dismay that the staff did not understand English.

The Disrespecters. There was a practical reason why the guards at the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican ask that visitors not take photos (flash or otherwise) of the ceiling or the walls; the repeated daily exposure to bursts of light deteriorated the delicate artwork. But they did so regardless. They also willfully ignored the rules of modesty at places of worship. Cover those damn shoulders and knees!

The Delayers. These could be found flitting about, snapping countless pictures of paintings, plaques, and points of interest, rarely lifting their heads to see what their cameras were capturing. They were also first to scoop up any objects the tour guide professed to be the perfect souvenir of the place. Their hope was to relive these images and trinkets back in the comfort of home.

But the worst of all–The Posers. Hellbent on the finding the right camera angle, they held their arms ridiculously akimbo, pretending to prevent the tower from collapsing. The experience of this incredible marvel reduced to a mere prop. So self-absorbed was this group that they were oblivious to the surrounding beauty, aside from their own.