Pizza in Pisa!

Venice is the incomparable city of canals. Milan, for fashion. Rome, the seat of the Empire stretching back into antiquity. Florence is known for its art.

And Pisa is of course, well u guessed it –

the Leaning Tower of Pizza, I mean Pisa.So the adventure of Mai and Jan followed them to Pisa. We set off into Pisa to find it’s oh-so-famous land mark.
Pisa is just a darling little city, all quaint and colorful, full of Italian charm ;o)

We left Florence, took a 1.5 hour local train ride to Pisa.

Had to get used to the activating of train and bus tickets before you get on board otherwise the ticket isn’t valid.
Yippie!! we were on our way to the one and only Leaning Tower of Pisa!

It was nice weather that day - no rain and mostly sunny and most of the time we cudn’t help staring out the window at the pretty view of Tuscany.

We decided to only walk once we got there, as there is more to see when you do that, and it’s cheaper too ;o) We headed out to Pisa with the idea of possibly making it to Rome by train at night. Well, we ended up staying most of the night in Pisa b4 going to Rome. Niweis, off we treked with our heavy backpacks in search of the Tower! We were really excited about seeing this building as it’s one of those that you’ve seen loads of pictures of. Unfortunately it was about to get dark, as it was already 7pm. We crossed a nice bridge and took a few pictures (the view of the Arno River was lovely),

then walked on. Fortunately, there were some friendly people who pointed us in the right direction. It turns out that the leaning tower is about as far away from the train station as you can get, but this simply meant that we got to take a 45 minute walk through the city.

Either way, it’s a neat place to spend the evening, not to mention world famous!
Finally we rounded a corner and there it was - leaning crazily. You can’t help but smile. As many pictures as you see of it, it actually is pretty impressive in person. The tower really is leaning quite drastically.

You can’t help but wonder if today is the day that a pigeon lands on the top and knocks the whole thing down.
What’s funny is that once you finally get there, you unconsciously say

what everyone else says:

“Wow, it really DOES lean!”
There were street vendors and some stalls selling souvenirs of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, so we bought some fridge magnets. ;0)
The Leaning Tower is only one of many gorgeous ornate buildings on the Campo dei Miracoli

a.k.a. Field of Miracles, recognized as one of the main centers for medieval art in the world. It is a large grassy area that invites a picnic or even a quick Frisbee toss in front of history. Incidentally, it was here that Galileo proved his theory on Bodies in Motion: Mass + Speed = Gravity. Click this Link: Galileo and The Leaning Tower

Incidentally also, i hated math and physics, so let’s not dwell on that! wahehe.

There is a Cathedral and Baptistry in the same square as the tower. The Baptistry was dedicated to St. John the Baptist and construction began in 1153, only to be finished by 14th century! At the entrance to the square just beside the Baptistry, there was a very nice and useful fountain with cold drinking water, which ofcourse, I just couldn’t resist having a sip (especially after munching on the Pizza)… Aahh, refreshing!
The Pisa Duomo (cathedral church) really stands out. it is impressive to see the beautiful white buildings rise in the middle of a green field. All three buildings tilt and the Tower had just undergone 10 years of successful restoration. The Leaning Tower of Pisa was built after the Duomo in 1173, and according to google took 177 years to finish!

Is this a postcard or what!? Picture taken by our loyal friend, The Tripod...
No this is not a Photoshop job. It’s already night time, and the flash from the camera isn’t making this pic quite convincing, yeah I know.
The bell tower, the famous tower of Pisa is really crooked. We did the typical tourist shots of Mai and myself trying to help keep the tower upright. ;0)
Yeah, I know this is terribly touristy but who can resist?!! ;o)
When you visit the leaning tower, try taking off one shoe. The tower will appear straight again.
After this Pisa trip, we would be making our way to The Vatican City and ROME! ..and we’re just amazed that we had just been cruising on a canal in Venice earlier that day at breakfast time; and then followed by the beautiful Florence on lunch; and ofcourse the dinner with the Pizza in Pisa. ITALY is fantastic!!!

The Duomo in Florence

As we were traveling from Venice to Florence via the train,

we were just waiting for time, and so I grabbed the tripod, set up the camera for some playful photos.. and voila! ...

People who travel to Italy often make a point of stopping in Florence.

This bustling town, with its luxury chain stores side-by-side with medieval and renaissance architecture and art of the Old Masters. And in the center of all this, is...
Tantanaaanaaaann....ttaaaannnaaannn.. (tambol, tambol, tambol 6x)... The McDonald's. Yep, das ryt, we stopped by at the McLovin'it to use “il banyo” (that’s Italian for “The pisser”, or tagalog for takobets, ewww, ehehe). I bought strawberry sundae, bcos.. well, I like strawberry sundae; and also some bread with pork

After that, we thought Hmn.. since we're already here, why not hit one of the architectural and artistic wonders of the world: The gigantic Florence Duomo. I mean, da ba? hmnn, pwede na rin...
Firenze or Florence is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Located in the heart of Tuscany, a stunning province of hills and mountains,
the Renaissance capital of the world -- a period that began in 1300 and lasted 300 years, with famous sons like Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello, and Raphael... and NO, they're NOT the ninja turtles! ;0)

This was a stop off on the way to Pisa. In Florence you don't have to seek out the art. Just walk around and you'll end up in a beautiful piazza full of sculptures and beautiful churches. The best way to see the city is on foot.

So from the train station

we headed straight to find the nearest famous landmark. Although we walked a little bit too far trying to get there, we did manage to find one of the large landmarks of the city,

a huge and elaborately decorated cathedral -- the world famous Florence's Duomo, aptly called the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore. The 4th largest Basilica in the world, it was definitely something I wanna check out. Building the cathedral started in 1296 and was completed in 1469!

But the facade was still unfinished and would remain so until the 19th century. Another [ ! ]. Niweis, the square itself was beautiful, with not only the Duomo but there also sat a few other buildings of the same magnitude and architecture.

We didn’t go inside cos it turned out though that the Duomo was closed that day. Either way, we took some pictures from the outside.
And the outside looked nice. In fact, you might even say that it is of the best outsides of churches in the world. ;)

Yeah, ryt. But it could be true, y'know.

We also had a look at one of the world's most beautiful squares - just scattered around the Duomo. Wonderful mediterranean piazzas where you will like spending hours sitting down, looking out on windows,

having a caffe'

and just watching people pissing passing by.
A city of bikes - which seemed like the preferred mode of transportation, sensible as most of the streets are pretty "skinny" ;o)

As we were looking for Florence souvenirs, actually fridge magnets ;) and also postcards we almost completely encircled the Duomo.
Speaking of fridge magnets, if there were things that people love to collect, for us -- that would be FRIDGE MAGNETS,

we just love 'em. Why?? Don't ask why, we just do.
Niweis, naturally my wife didn't mind taking the long way. It served as part of our tour of the exterior of the Duomo.

The Duomo is huge, yet it's also overwhelming in its intricacy and fine detail. At nearly 12,000 feet, the Duomo is also one of the largest cathedrals in the world.

Adjoining it are the campanile, or belltower,
and the baptistery (or Baptistry).

The baptistery actually predates the Duomo, the earliest version of it having been built in the 4th century. The brass main door of the Baptistery known as The Gates of Paradise, was sculpted by the genius of Ghiberti and took him 21 years to complete. Together, the baptistery, campanile, and Duomo, as a cathedral, is one of the oldest architectural structures still well-preserved and intact. The Duomo is a fine example of Renaissance art and architecture, and surely one of the man-made wonders of the world.

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While walking along Florence's narrow streets, staring up at the dome, I felt nearly overwhelmed;

the passage of time takes on a different meaning in the Old World.

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Finally, we stopped at a little place called Spizzico, at what looked to be the McDonalds equivalent of pizza (and yes, we went to McDonalds b4 that ;0) and had some pizza prosciutto and some drinks. Twas really good.

I saved the leftover Pizza in case we get hungry on our way to Pisa. Well, waddyaknow-- Pisa in Pizza Pizza in Pisa. Sounds like a catchy title for my next blog eh? Watyathink? yum yum, ngasab, ngasab!

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Other places and things to see in Florence:

Ponte Vecchio, The most famous bridge in Florence and also the oldest.
Botticelli's The Birth of Venus

..and ofcourse, Michelangelo's David,

sculpted in 1501 and holds the title of the most recognizable stone sculpture in the history of art.
While this one i think it's called Discovering Art...