The Leaning Tower

Friday June 3^rd

Well, today was a day that Katie has really been looking forward to.  When we first planned this trip, I asked her if there was anything in particular in Europe that she wanted to see or visit.  At first she said no, but soon she came back to me with an excited look on her face. “Can we go to the Leaning Tower of Pisa?” she asked excitedly.  Since Pisa is very close to Florence, this was one request that I was happy to be able to easily meet.  So today we headed off to Pisa. 

Pisa is just over an hour away by train, so it is a pretty easy trip.  The train puts you off about a 30 minute walk from the tower, but it’s not well marked at tall so make sure you have a map!  You’d think that there would be well marked tourist signs, but no…. However, with the help of a small map in our guidebook we did manage to make our way through the town of Pisa, which is quite unremarkable until we could see the top of the tower peaking up over some buildings.

“There it is!” we shrieked, pointing excitedly.   We did not have much time to gawk, but hurried to the ticket office to pick up our tower tour tickets which we had ordered several weeks ago on the internet.  We had missed the train we planned to take, so we only had about 20 minutes until our tour started.  Of course the lines were long, so we split up – Paul and Katie in one line, me in another.  My line reached the counter first and I handed the reservation forms to the clerk.  “I will need your ID,” she said and I handed her Katie’s and my passports.  “Not yours, just Paul’s” she clarified since the tickets were in his name. I waved Paul and Katie forward and asked Paul for his ID.  “I don’t have it,” he said.  “I didn’t bring it with me today.”   The clerk leaned over the counter and waggled her finger in Paul’s face.  “Paul, you are a very, very bad boy!” she admonished him.  Luckily she was smiling and handed over our tickets anyway.

We made our way next door to the bag drop and checked everything except the tickets and our cameras.  You are not allowed to bring much of anything up the tower. We ran outside and made it into line just five minutes before our tour time.  They only allow a small number of people up the tower at a time – something like 25 people, spaced in 20 minute increments.  The Leaning Tower is right outside Pisa’s large church and baptistery and was originally just the bell tower of the church, until it started to lean and began much more famous than the church. 

The climb is relatively easy, the stairs just spiral up and up to the bells, and then a bit more to the absolute top of the tower.  Interestingly, we have climbed many towers with these spiraling staircases, and I am fine with it.  However, the lean of the tower combined with the spiraling staircase combined to make me feel quite off-kilter while climbing. The steps were made of marble, but we very well worn with use, making it even more difficult to get good footing. I actually ended up feel quite queasy and was very happy to make it to the top and into the open air. 

The view from the top of the rooftops of Pisa and the surrounding Tuscan hill side was pretty, and the lean was not quite as bad from up here, although it was definitely noticeable.  The tower had already started to lean but the time the last of it was built, and the top section actually is built tilted backwards  a bit to counteract the leaning. Our time was soon up and we headed down, collected our bags and went out to take the obligatory Leaning Tower photographs.  Everywhere you looked families were taking photos of themselves holding up or pushing down the tower. It was hilarious!  We took a lot ourselves, having fun with it. However, it was harder than it looks because you automatically account for the lean when you take the picture, making the tower look straight! It’s very weird looking through the viewfinder and trying to line it up properly crooked.

It’s interesting that the church and the baptistery both lean as well.  The area is called the “Field of Miracles,” I guess because nothing has fallen over yet.  The buildings are all very close to each other, and I was expecting a big field with them spread out.  The area is very congested though and it’s tough to get your photos without other people or other buildings in them.

Katie then wanted to get a Leaning Tower replica for her room at home.  Looking over at the rows of souvenir stands, Paul remarked dryly, “I think we can probably find one.”   There were thousands of leaning towers for sale, from small to large, in versions including normal, glittered and light-up. At one stand we saw the clerk opening a huge plastic bag full of towers into a bin. “I guess they buy in bulk,” Katie remarked.  Once our souvenirs were in hand we headed to a nearby bus stop to catch a bus to Lucca.

We had a bit of trouble finding the right bus stop, and it was really hot, prompting u to buy ice cream cones while we waited, but eventually we found ourselves on the right bus, in the right direction to Lucca.  Lucca is about a 30 minute bus ride from Pisa, and is an excellent example of a walled city. It’s one of the few medieval walled cities that still has a complete wall around it.  The ride to Lucca through the Tuscan countryside was wonderfully relaxing.  We went through several small villages on the way, picking up and dropping off kids from school along the route. The roads were so narrow that the bus driver had to honk as he went around curves to avoid hitting anyone.

The bus dropped us off right in front of one of the gates of the wall and we walked into the city.  The walls are very wide and one of the main attractions of Lucca, at least for us, is that you can climb to the top of the wall and walk the entire way around the city.  There is even a bike path on top!  We immediately climbed right up to the top and began circling the city.  The top had trees planted along the bike path, the ramparts are now picnic areas and many locals were taking their daily stroll. 

The entire way around the wall is 2.5 miles and we planned to walk about 2 miles around the city then hop off at the train station.  It was sunny and warm, but a slight breeze made it very pleasant.  After the hustle of Florence and the crowds of Pisa, Lucca was a welcome break.  Strolling along the wall was like taking a taking a walk in a pleasant, uncrowded park.  As Katie put it, “I don’t feel like a tourist here in Lucca, I just feel normal.”  She also summed up Florence very elegantly. “Mommy, I like Florence and all, but I think it is like a cup of espresso – small but very intense.”   I think that sums up Florence very nicely.  It is overwhelming being in the city, and best taken in small doses.

After relaxing on the walk around the walls we caught the train back to Florence, did some grocery shopping and made a nice pasta dinner in the apartment.  After dinner we took the bus back to the river and then walked up to Piazza Michelangelo.   This piazza is on the opposite side of the river from the center of Florence and is high up on a bluff overlooking the river and the city. It is an excellent place to watch the sunset, and people gather here nightly with picnics and wine to relax and enjoy the breezes.  We watched the Florence in the golden rays of the setting sun and thought that the city never looked so beautiful or peaceful.