Day 39 - Pisa
As with all good tourists in Pisa, today was the Leaning Tower day.
Had breakfast in the hotel, which was great as had scrambled eggs. You know, I never thought I would say this but the Italians love a bit of cake for breakfast and I’m sick of it. It was really nice to have some cereal, yoghurt and eggs.
So fully satisfied I headed for the Tower. Went out onto the main shopping street and wandered along window gazing; which is dangerous as I soon found a shop that I couldn’t resist popping into and 1/2 hour later walked out with a new dress. Now bearing in mind that my backpack is really heavy and bulging at the seams, I really shouldn’t buy even a wafer thin mint, but its only a little dress and will fit into a tiny corner - lol.
Continued up the street further than I should so had to work out a new route to the tower and was wandering with my head in the map and looked up - there it was, totally taking me by surprise, the tower in all it’s glory. A magnificent sight, all shiny and white in the morning sunshine.
I bought a multi-sight ticket which gave me access to not only the Tower (you have to book a time)but also the Baptismal Chapel, Cathedral and Museum. The Museum was a bit of a waste really as not much except some boards to read in there - a guide sheet would have sufficed. Anyway, had an hour to kill before my allotted time in the Tower, so went into the Baptismal chapel, listened to a guide telling a group of kids about John the Baptist and then this guy (one of the security people) walked into the middle of the chapel, told everyone to shut-up and proceeded to make sounds that echod around the chamber - very nice.
Out of the Chapel I then headed for the Cathedral, pretty inside but the best thing I heard (once again earwigging onto a tour) was about the big marble pulpit in it. This pulpit was made by a very famous sculpture in the 1300’s - Giovanni Pisano. It is a very iconic piece of Italian art but as he was never fully paid for it he did some quirky things. Firstly he put a self portrait of himself in the middle of Matthew and Luke, secondly he put an inscription around the pulpit telling the world that he was never paid fully for the work so he was going to leave it unfinished - which he did as he omitted the stairs to get into it; there are now wooden stairs instead of the designed marble ones.
Also, the pulpit was damaged during the war so Mussolini donated two new marble pillars to replace the damaged ones. Unfortunately he obviously didn’t want to pay too much as he replaced the ornate ones with two very plain ones. Apparently the people of Pisa hated them but as it was Mussolini who donated them they had to be very grateful and put up with them. How true all of this is, I don’t know, but it makes a good story!
If you’ve not been up the tower it is worth the climb, a beautiful view from the top across the roof tops of Pisa looking typically Tuscan. Going up you really don’t notice the fact that it’s not straight until you come down and it that last flat bit at the base makes you feel that you’ve had a glass or two of wine too many — promise, I hadn’t had a drop. For the history buffs here is a little history of the Tower.
After the tower decided to have a little wander through a load of back streets as wasn’t really heading anywhere in particular. Pisa is a really nice little town, contemplated hiring a bike for the afternoon but the bike shop was closed by this time. It was really hot so stopped and got an ice-cream but it was melting quicker than I could eat it.
Back at the hotel, made myself a lemoncello sprintzer from the mini bar and sat out on the terrace behind the hotel listening to some guy in one of the other gardens playing his guitar and singing - very pleasant end to the afternoon.
Just quickly, I have to remark on the wall art in the hotel - murals adorn every wall and they are so good.
Had breakfast in the hotel, which was great as had scrambled eggs. You know, I never thought I would say this but the Italians love a bit of cake for breakfast and I’m sick of it. It was really nice to have some cereal, yoghurt and eggs.
So fully satisfied I headed for the Tower. Went out onto the main shopping street and wandered along window gazing; which is dangerous as I soon found a shop that I couldn’t resist popping into and 1/2 hour later walked out with a new dress. Now bearing in mind that my backpack is really heavy and bulging at the seams, I really shouldn’t buy even a wafer thin mint, but its only a little dress and will fit into a tiny corner - lol.
Continued up the street further than I should so had to work out a new route to the tower and was wandering with my head in the map and looked up - there it was, totally taking me by surprise, the tower in all it’s glory. A magnificent sight, all shiny and white in the morning sunshine.
I bought a multi-sight ticket which gave me access to not only the Tower (you have to book a time)but also the Baptismal Chapel, Cathedral and Museum. The Museum was a bit of a waste really as not much except some boards to read in there - a guide sheet would have sufficed. Anyway, had an hour to kill before my allotted time in the Tower, so went into the Baptismal chapel, listened to a guide telling a group of kids about John the Baptist and then this guy (one of the security people) walked into the middle of the chapel, told everyone to shut-up and proceeded to make sounds that echod around the chamber - very nice.
Out of the Chapel I then headed for the Cathedral, pretty inside but the best thing I heard (once again earwigging onto a tour) was about the big marble pulpit in it. This pulpit was made by a very famous sculpture in the 1300’s - Giovanni Pisano. It is a very iconic piece of Italian art but as he was never fully paid for it he did some quirky things. Firstly he put a self portrait of himself in the middle of Matthew and Luke, secondly he put an inscription around the pulpit telling the world that he was never paid fully for the work so he was going to leave it unfinished - which he did as he omitted the stairs to get into it; there are now wooden stairs instead of the designed marble ones.
Also, the pulpit was damaged during the war so Mussolini donated two new marble pillars to replace the damaged ones. Unfortunately he obviously didn’t want to pay too much as he replaced the ornate ones with two very plain ones. Apparently the people of Pisa hated them but as it was Mussolini who donated them they had to be very grateful and put up with them. How true all of this is, I don’t know, but it makes a good story!
If you’ve not been up the tower it is worth the climb, a beautiful view from the top across the roof tops of Pisa looking typically Tuscan. Going up you really don’t notice the fact that it’s not straight until you come down and it that last flat bit at the base makes you feel that you’ve had a glass or two of wine too many — promise, I hadn’t had a drop. For the history buffs here is a little history of the Tower.
After the tower decided to have a little wander through a load of back streets as wasn’t really heading anywhere in particular. Pisa is a really nice little town, contemplated hiring a bike for the afternoon but the bike shop was closed by this time. It was really hot so stopped and got an ice-cream but it was melting quicker than I could eat it.
Back at the hotel, made myself a lemoncello sprintzer from the mini bar and sat out on the terrace behind the hotel listening to some guy in one of the other gardens playing his guitar and singing - very pleasant end to the afternoon.
Just quickly, I have to remark on the wall art in the hotel - murals adorn every wall and they are so good.
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