Florence/Pisa, Italy

The Leaning Tower of Pisa has been a bucket list destination for both of us - a must see. I can recall looking at photos in early grade school history books, but really never researched the timelines or antiquity of the structure. Come to think of it, I believe I scored a 'D' in that class! While it was quite a site to see, I have some of my 'brutually frank' comments to share with you, but I'll digress for a few minutes.

We docked well before sunrise - not in Pisa, but Liverno - a small city with a massive, huge container port about 10 miles out. We were tied by 5:30 and the Lido was full of folks grabbing breakfast as most had long tours scheduled for the day. With umbrellas in tow, we were on the tour bus by 7am and well on our way toward our first stop in Florence. It rained heavily during the night, and more was forecast for today, but nothing was going to deter us.

The landscape for the first few miles was very disappointing - rather dreary & drab. Very flat - lots of sunflower, wheat, & cornfields. We learned from our guide that a few hundred years ago, Pisa was actually ocean front property and that the farmland we were driving through was the seabed. That explained it, though it sure didn't justify the neglected home conditions or trash. Florence was about a 90-minute drive, and the closer we got, the more rolling hills & vineyards painted the landscape - it was very beautiful. Once we hit the outskirts of Florence, traffic became very congested. It was 8:30 by then and rushhour was in full swing, though surprisingly heavy for a city with only 500,000 residents. The roundabouts, intended to ease traffic and promote a better flow, were a nightmare. With three lanes of cars, trucks, & scooters coming from four directions and courtesy disregarded, it was a chaotic cluster to say the least! Once we arrived at the perimeter of the historic district and parked the bus, we began our long walking tour - and I don't use the term 'long' lightly. By Noon, we'd walked at least 7 miles on uneven, cobblestone streets, but the education was worth the effort. The highlight for us was the Church of Santa Croce. The tombs of nearly 5 dozen could be viewed - the most notable for us...Dante & Michelangelo's final resting places. Earlier, we stopped by Brunelleschi's masterpiece cathedral in pink, green, and white marble - the 4th largest in the world. The dome itself can be seen for several miles. The crowds were huge, particularly for a Thursday, but later learned it was quite normal. Security was excellent - there were at least two dozen guards walking the streets with AK-47's - they were ready for anything and we felt very safe. Lunch was great - the ship-sponsored meal included a 3-course meal of fresh bread, salad, chicken, veggies, and of course, good ol authentic, Italian 'sketti'! We also had bottomless red wine, from nearby Tuscany.

It was 1:30 by then and we had about a mile walk back to our bus. We were forewarned about the rain, and it didn't disappoint. As we left the cafe, the clouds opened and it poured buckets for several minutes. Most passengers were soaked by the time we reached the bus, but Cheryl and I were well prepared with jackets & umbrellas. With that said, it didn't do much to protect our feet - nor our fellow passengers - so imagine the auroma of a busload of folks with saturated tennis shoes?! Oh my....

Next & last stop...Pisa! Another 90-minute drive. The closer we got to the city itself, the more urban decay was prevalent. I'm thinking...here's a world famous, iconic landmark, yet the city & residents haven't much pride?? Where's the city garbage collection department - where are the street-sweepers - where and why not?? Next surprise. The busses and public parking areas are 3-4 city blocks from the Tower and in between, numerous apartment buildings and single family homes. Quick aside, I counted over one hundred busses...on a Thursday afternoon! So, you literally walk through these neighborhoods to get to the Tower...and not very well cared for at that. Again - not much pride. Why not? The crowds were absolutely smothering - literally thousands. To make it worse, the area's infested with knats - millions of them - everyone batting at them, kids crying after getting bit. We could hear one woman say on her way out..."I got one picture and I'm getting the hell out of here!" What I don't know with certainty, is whether the knats are a commonplace or associated with the earlier rain, but either way, it was a nightmare. Then there's the flying ants. They've learned you can't easily get to them if they fly down your back. I ended the day with a couple good-size welts.

Outside the square where the Tower resides, are dozens of souvie tents selling trinkets & trash. Then of course, you have the wandering salespeople who get in your face and are absolutely certain you NEED what they're selling. Sunny afternoon, but you MUST buy an umbrella from them! We had our own...but they were sure theirs was of superior quality! 

Now to get a little technical - the Leaning Tower of Pisa, or as the locals call it - The Tower - is simply a freestanding bell tower of the adjacent Cathedral, and is known worldwide obviously, for its unintended tilt. It is situated behind the Cathedral and is the third oldest structure in the Square iteself. We learned today that the other buildings in the square are leaning as well, but in the opposite direction. Hadn't heard that before, and you can barely detect a lean in any of them. The tower's tilt began during construction, caused by an inadequate foundation on the ground too soft on one side to properly support the structure's weight. I mentioned earlier that the city of Pisa was itself many years ago, beachfront property...so the soil was soft & muddy to begin with. The tilt increased in the decades before the structure was completed, and gradually increased until the structure was stabilized (and the tilt partially corrected) by efforts in recent years...and actually, as recent as 16 years ago.

So, construction of the tower occurred in three stages over 199 years. Work on the ground floor of the white marble campanile began in August 1173 during a period of military success and prosperity. This ground floor is a blind arcade articulated by engaged columns with classical Corinthian capitals.

The tower began to sink after construction had progressed to the second floor in 1178. This was due to a shallow foundation, set in weak, unstable subsoil, a design that was flawed from the beginning. Construction was subsequently halted for almost a century, because the Republic of Pisa was almost continually engaged in battles with Genoa, Lucca, and Florence. In 1198, clocks were temporarily installed on the third floor of the unfinished construction. In 1272, construction resumed. In an effort to compensate for the tilt, the engineers built upper floors with one side taller than the other. Because of this, the tower is actually curved. Construction was halted again in 1284 when the Pisans were defeated by the Genoans in the Battle of Meloria. Don't ask me why they were fighting or for how long - that's all I was told. The seventh floor was completed in 1319. The bell-chamber was finally added in 1372. There are seven bells, one for each note of the musical major scale. They only ring the bells on very special occassions such as Christmas, but beyond that, our guide wasn't sure. She said at other times during the year, they use computerized bells. After a phase (1990–2001) of structural strengthening, the tower is currently undergoing gradual surface restoration, in order to repair visible damage, mostly corrosion and blackening. These are particularly pronounced due to the tower's age and its exposure to wind and rain.

If I haven't completely bored you by now, the height of the tower is 183 feet from the ground on the low side and 185 feet on the high side. The width of the walls at the base is 8 ft. Its weight is estimated at 14,500 metric tons. The tower has 296 or 294 steps; the seventh floor has two fewer steps on the north-facing staircase. Prior to restoration work performed between 1990 and 2001, the tower leaned at an angle of 5.5 degrees, but the tower now leans at about 3.99 degrees. This means that the top of the tower is displaced horizontally 12 ft. 10 in. from the center. No, I didn't compute that. I had a tough time with basic math in school too. I was feverishly taking notes while taking pictures, batting knats, and squishing flying ants. Multi-tasking I guess you could say!

Public restrooms are non-exsistent. Nothing in the square itself. If you DO need to use a bathroom, there are several sidewalk cafes outside the square but we were advised we needed to first buy a drink, then get in line. These were lines like Disney, believe me. I stood for 20 minutes, and Cheryl's line was so congested we missed our appointed group meeting time for the long walk back to the bus and literally had to trot to catch up. Oh, and watch out crossing a couple very busy streets and the railroad crossing - they don't slow down. The locals don't seem to care at all - pretty rude in my opinion.

Admission to The Tower is free. If I were in charge, I'd buy/demolish a few of the nearby apartment buildings - install public & commercial parking - transport visitors via several rotating trams, either build permanent restrooms or use dozens of porta-potty's, designate a nice area for souvie stands, construct beverage kiosks, and spray regularly for insects. The Tower attracts several million tourists annually - even if you charged $5/per and your attendance dropped a few percentage points, the city/government could realize a return pretty quickly and turn it into a sustainable revenue generator. Why not? Why not??

We were back on the ship by 6:30pm. Up to the Lido for dinner and both in the sack by 7:45. The ship was scheduled to sail at 7:30 but there was a problem with one of the 'tender' stations. Tender #13 was deployed earlier in the day for what the Captain refered to as load testing, and when they tried to retrieve it before departing, the winches wouldn't function. We couldn't just leave the 'tender' behind so after a couple hours of maintenance work, they finally repaired the problem and we were on our way toward Rome - the Captain cranked all engines enabling an on-time arrival.