Pisa 22/07/2010

A later than expected arrival into Livorno due to the cancelled ferry. We got an express ferry at 1pm in the end. Sitting around Bastia in Corsica had been a bit of a drag though. 40 degrees again today, no where to go as we had all our baggage with us and the ferry terminal had three seats in it!

We met Liane, Morgan and Lorenz at the Livorno terminal. In the three days we were away they had been up to the big marine aquarium in Genoa and to a quarry where they cut marble for statues. Even though our plans had been delayed we still had time to drive to Pisa and look at the famous leaning tower there. It was only 40mins drive from Livorno. The leaning tower is actually part of a set of buildings set in some lovely green lawns and the set includes a impressive basilica and baptistery. These buildings hint at the extent of the wealth in Pisa back in the 13th century. The city was a major sea port with a large navy but through successive defeats by Genoa and Florence and then the silting up of its harbour it fell into decline. Much of the towns old buildings were destroyed by allied bombing in WWII and the little green with its buildings are the best example of its old architecture left.

The tower has actually leaned further in the past then it does now. Recently they have corrected its lean by some degrees so that people are now allowed to climb up to the top again. It has a lovely design and symmetry to it even though it is leaning. Unfortuanetly we couldn't climb up the tower as we were running out of daylight and the next tour was in an 1hrs time so we lay on the lawns and looked up at it and of course, consumed yet another gelato!

Fred

Kailin's Word: Today in Pisa we looked at the leaning tower of Pisa. It was beautiful. Much better than all the pictures on postcards I'd seen. The only two bad things were that: 1/ we couldn't go up, because the next tour was in an hour, and we didn't have that long, and 2/ three-quarters of the way up, they were doing some sort of construction, and there was all this mesh and stuff, which kind of detracted from its beauty. But apart from that, it was wonderful. There were heaps of little artistic carvings on each pier and at the top of each pillar, and they were all different. The Tower was made out of white marble, so the whole thing glittered in the afternoon sun. Then we had to leave.