Pisa, Italy
I found this while wandering. Just a taste of what I would find around the corner.
So today I got up early…relatively speaking, and hopped aboard a regional train to Pisa. First I must say that the regional trains are much dirtier than the Intercity trains and Eurostar trains I have been using. So weird to see train systems that actually work. People use them just to get from town to town. Imagine hopping a train Calgary and then stopping in Airdrie, Crossfield, Olds, Innisfail and then Red Deer (sorry if you have never been to Southern Alberta you won’t get that, but imagine a subway system, but outside the city, connecting all the little towns in-between the larger cities. Would have eliminated my need to have a car at 16 years old).Anyway, the train ride was just a little over an hour long. I made it to Pisa just after 1100. Of course I had no real map so I had to figure out how to find the tower (of course I am talking about the Leaning Tower of Pisa…why else would I have been there). I found a local map but actually could not find the tower on the map. I figured how hard can it be to find a leaning tower and I wanted to check out the town so just decided to take a walk. Pisa actually is neat little town but my walk took me back to where I started (due to my inability to navigate) so I consulted the town map again. This time I found the tower on the map and took a slightly different route and actually found the tower very easily.
I also found the emergency room....you know, just in case.
Of course the tower is not alone and is actually in a collection of buildings in an area they call Miracle Square. However, the second I walked around the corner and into the Square there was only one thing that drew my eye…the Leaning Tower of Pisa (which was built to function as a bell tower). Very interesting that when looking at it the lean is extremely obvious but when you take a picture it is only obvious when there is something straight in the picture next to it.
Me with the tower.
The tower is about 4.1m off vertical. It was farther off vertical in the past however in 1998 some people got together (smart people) and with careful weighting and soil drilling, the tower was forced to a safer position. It has seven tiers but only 3 were completed before it started to tilt. It goes without saying that I had to go up. You cannot take any bags up with you so I checked the bag and just took up my cameras. It is about 300 steps up to the very top (some of the other places I went were a lot more so really this was nothing).
A few of those steps.
Going up was actually not too bad. I could actually feel the lean of the tower as I climbed. One side of the steps were certainly easier to climb than the other side.
Taken from the lower level. The view gets better from the top.
The view from the top was great and of course now I can say I climbed the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Of course I still had to get down which was not nearly was fun. I tend to get vertigo with heights. I am fine looking straight out but not so good when looking down. So when I went to get off the very top level and you have to walk down a set of steps…..on the side the tower leans towards, I had a little bit of trouble with that. I did make it down and was able to check out a few more things.
I look happy now but trust me I was not smiling while walking down.
I decided to wander away from Miracle Square for a few minutes. Like I said before, it is a cute little town but there actually is not that much to see outside the Square so I decided to head back. On the way I ran into to a guy named Momo from Senegal, who completely confirmed that the majority of the guys trying to sell knock-off everything in Naples and Pisa are from various African countries. Anyways, he followed me down the street because he “loves me” and wanted to give me some gifts which included a couple carved items and a knock-off Gucci watch. At first he told me 65 euros for the watch and then decided it was worth “whatever I wanted to give him” (I know). Just for reference.....I gave him nothing but a smile.
Some of the random ruins I found throughout town.
Interesting to note that buying fake goods in Italy is an indictable offence and holds up to a 500 thousand euro fine (or something like that) although in Pisa and Naples there was not much being done to stop the selling or the buying.
Anyway, back at the square I checked out a few other things including the cathedral. It is the centre point of the square. Quite similar to other churches in the region. Lots of frescoes and great details on the ceiling. The Library was also really neat full of old texts and other writings.
Another stop was at the Monumental Cemetery.It is a great collection of old tombs and frescoes. Very neat though because many of the frescoes are in the process of being restored. Many walls are in very terrible condition and some have already been lost, but there were actually artists sitting along the one wall (well I should say up it as they hang out on scaffolding all day) restoring the wall.
One of those frescoes. This one is in better shape than others but still needs a little work.
You can see which ones were already done and which ones they are working on now.
This face just creeped me out. So weird.
The highlight of the square (other than the tower of course because nothing can top that) was visiting the Baptistery.
The outside of the Baptistery was quite interesting. Match the other buildings well.
The inside of the building itself is extremely uninspiring but the effects of the buildings design is actually what is very neat. It has some very unique sonority and echo effects. Really impossible to describe but hopefully you can hear the video.
Looking down from the second level. Not a lot of detail but worth it to hear the echo effects.
Here is the video from inside the Baptistery but without sound you will miss everything. Who knew one voice could do all this.
After spending most of the day in Pisa it was eventually time to head back to Florence. Back to the train station it was. I decided to pay a couple extra euro and travel first class. Of course first class is a relative term but at least it guaranteed me a seat for my 81 kilometre journey. The train was pretty full.
So another thing scratched off my must do before I die list and some more good weather to do it in. Tomorrow back to the queues that are Florence.
Julie
PS: Just for extra info, in case I have not explained it before, a fresco is a type of painting seen on walls or ceilings. The wall is covered with a fresh layer of plaster and the painting is done while the plaster is still wet. Both the plaster and the paint will dry at the same time.
