Blog #13 – A Trip to Pisa

For Blog #13 Giulio's selection is a Chianti red wine from Castello d'Alboa (http://www.albola.it/).  Another good choice I must say.

On Monday, October 4th, we drove over to Pisa to visit the sites of the Campo dei Miracoli (the Field of Miracles) or officially called the Piazza del Duomo.  The area got the name of the Field of Miracles when a visitor in the 16th century noted the impression of stylistic harmony between the four main buildings despite the fact that they were designed and built by several different architects from different periods (11th to 14th centuries).

The drive from Barberino took a little under two hours because we took back country roads across the Tuscan countryside, which provided us with a beautiful scenic drive, but also required a slow speed due to the narrow windy roads and small villages and towns we had to drive through.  But the views were stunning and worth the extra time as they added to the adventure of the day.  Driving into a big city like Pisa and trying to find parking presented the usual challenge, but we trusted our instincts and were rewarded with a good spot not too far from the city centre.

Sandy in front of the Cathedral.

The four main buildings that we visited along with two museums were (1) the Cathedral, (2) the Baptistery – the circular building with striped marble), (3) the Camposanto (Italian for "cemetery") – a long rectangular building with a grassy inner courtyard; and of course (4) the Bell Tower, more commonly known at the Leaning Tower of Pisa.  When we arrived, we had to book an appointment to go up to the top of the Leaning Tower, so we visited the other buildings in the order listed above with pictures provided below in the same order.

A photo of the Cathedral taken with the Tower to my back.

The Baptistery

A shot from the interior balcony of the Baptistery looking down.  Can you spot Sandy?

Sandy inside the Baptistery in front of Nicola Pisano's carved pulpit, a masterpiece of medieval sculpture.

The inner courtyard of the Camposanto.

Sandy and Lorne in one of the Gothic cloisters of the Camposanto.

Is Sandy really holding up the Leaning Tower and keeping it from falling down?  We saw many people striking this funny pose and finally figured out what they were doing.  This is our attempt at having some fun with the odd-looking pose.

Let catch my breath.  That was a long climb up!

The view was worth the climb!

Luckily, the bells weren't ringing when we were there.

An instrument gauge at the bottom of the Tower showing the amount of lean off of a vertical plane.

As is our habit when we travel, we like to meet other people and learn what their stories are.  Here are pictures of two couples we met in Pisa.  The first couple are Frank and Diane from a small town in Australia about a 90 minute drive north of Melbourne.  We sat down beside them to have our lunch (Panini sandwiches we bought on the way in).  Frank and Diane are retailers.  They closed down their shop for five weeks to take their first vacation in 10 years starting in Edinburgh and then travelling to London, Paris, Venice, Florence and finishing Rome.  Oddly enough, we ran into them again on the street in Florence three days later when we were walking in opposite directions and Diane recognized us.  We had a great time chatting like old friends with our new friends and swapping stories of our travels in between.

Our new Australian friends, Frank and Diane.

The next couple we met were Henry and Alice from Mississippi.  Henry is a retired high school physics and chemistry teacher and provided me with some interesting stories of Galileo’s experiments from the top of the tower (or should I call it a physics lecture).  They were next going to take a 16-day cruise back to the U.S. from Venice with 6 ports of call on the way.

Posing  of the Tower with our new friends from Mississippi, Alice and Henry.  Sandy is chatting with Alice and Henry in the photo above that I took of Diane and Frank.