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!!!