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| Leaning Tower of Pisa a.k.a. "Elephant Tusk" |
Our adventure on this leg of the race began in Florence, Italy where we reunited with our friends from the United States for their 3rd annual European trip.
After a long, drab and hazy winter-induced homesickness and longing for a clear California sky and balmy breeze, I really needed the upcoming vacation to a place that was sunny with a temperate climate (well, all is relative), and I looked forward to spending a few days relaxing with good friends. Only the boys and I participated in this leg of the race. Dad will join us later after he has completed his roadblock called Work.
The boys and I arrived in Florence exhausted and lethargic thinking only about catnaps (my eldest still recovering from a bad cold). Our friends arrived from Rome equipped with plans to visit the entire Tuscany region in just one day. I am in awe of our friends' tenacity for travels. While the boys and I bummed around Florence searching for a decent Italian meal on our first afternoon in town, our friends had already arranged a guided tour for us to see Tuscany the next day.
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| So good going down, not great coming up. Food poisoning - Day 1 in Florence |
Prior to arriving in Florence, we had considered taking a train to the city of Pisa for a day trip, but thanks to our resourceful friends, we were able to visit Pisa and two additional famous cities in Tuscany in the comfort of a luxury tour bus. Under other circumstances I would object strongly to the tour bus route, as this seems just too plush, but waking up to an overcast sky, drizzle, and temperatures below the teens, you can bet I got out of bed and onto that bus faster than a speeding bullet.
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| Tuscany in One Day tour |
Our tour guide at Tuscany in One Day was fantastic - energetic, enthusiastic, organized and trilingual to boot. As the bus pulled out of Florence toward the Tuscany countryside, her voice resonated through the cabin as she pointed out and described the gorgeous landscapes that we strained to see through the haze (and from which we felt dizzy from the constant whipping of our heads to focus on the blurry and fast disappearing scenery). But never mind all that, we enjoyed listening to her adorable English accent.
Our first stop - Pisa, Italy
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| Campo dei Miracoli (Fields of Miracle) |
We arrived in Pisa to see more overcast sky, gobs of tourists (at 9 o'clock!) and countless vendors selling everything imaginable lining the road to the Fields of Miracle ("Campo dei Miracoli" in Italian) which is the main, and quite undoubtedly, the only tourist attraction in Pisa. The entire complex consists of the baptistry, the cathedral, the cemetery and the ever popular Leaning Tower of Pisa. We were allotted just 30 minutes to explore this piazza. With running shoes on, we raced to the last structure, the Torre Pendente di Pisa also known as the "Elephant Tusk" by the local tour guides.
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| Inadequately built 300 years ago yet still standing today |
I'll try to explain the story behind the "Elephant Tusk". Nobody knows for sure who was the original architect of the campanile. Whoever designed the structure flawed it in a big way. Built on clay soil with a foundation only 3 meters deep, the bell tower began to sink unevenly when the second floor was added. Due to a series of wars and other uncertainties of that time, the construction of the tower was halted for 100 years. In 1272, Giovanni di Simone carried on with the construction and designed the tower to be built with one side taller than the other to counteract the leaning. Hence the slight curved look resembling (sort of) an elephant tusk. Furthermore, in 1838, Alessandro Della Gherardesca dug a pathway near the base of the tower to allow visitors to view the intricately carved base and unintentionally causing the tower to lean further. For many years, climbing the campanile was closed to the public due to its instability until John Burland, professor of soil mechanics, proposed removing soil from the north end of the tower to allow the structure to settle back into the ground and lessen the lean. It worked. The correction reversed the lean from 5°30' degrees to 3°54' degrees. Now the tower is available for all to climb.
Upon arriving at the ticket office, we received quite a shock. The fee to climb the tower was an extortionate 18 euros per person regardless of age (although you have to be at least 8 years old to climb). So the cost to climb for three of us was 54 euros! But according to the ticket clerk, the fee includes a guided tour. This additional piece of information did not make me feel any better for dishing out an insane amount to see Pisa from the top of the Tower. That said, in the whole scheme of things, 54 euros is cheaper than four airline tickets and accommodation to return to Pisa at a later date. So, we handed over our cash and prayed the tower guide would talk fast and be succinct with his explanation and allow us sufficient time to return to our tour group meeting point. Well, succinct is too generous of an adjective to describe the tower tour, which lasted about five minutes (perhaps even less) to cover the history of the tower. Then, we heard "now you can climb to the top", and the boys and I sprinted.
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| View of Duomo and Cathedral from the Tower |
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| Shifting grooves in steps. |
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| At the very top of the Leaning Tower. |
We ran hard and fast up the first quarter of 297 steps, got out of breath, felt disoriented from the leaning, and had to stop. (The direction of the lean can be gleaned from the shifting impressions made in the steps). We arrived at the top gasping for air. The view of the Fields of Miracle was breath-taking, but don't expect to see all of Pisa and beyond. The tower, standing at 185 feet extending over 8 stories, isn't tall enough for that.
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| Facade of the Cathedral |
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| Inside the Cathedral |
With only ten minutes remaining, we dashed back down the staircase, retrieved our backpack and my purse from the check-in desk (bags of any kind are not allowed on the climb), took a restroom break, peeked inside the cathedral, snapped some photos and still arrived at the meeting point on time - out of breath but smiling.
Tales have it that the person who originally designed and constructed the bell tower fled Pisa after the failed construction (his identity is still unknown today). In the irony of life, I find it intriguing that the man who supposedly was "exiled" from Pisa for making a colossal error is also the man who should have been acknowledged for giving Pisa its enduring popularity and lasting touristic appeal.
Next stop - San Gigmignano.
Trip Details:
Sightseeing tour: We booked our "Tuscany in One Day" via Hotel Perseo in Florence. The children's tickets are free with a purchase of an adult ticket. We paid 80 euros for one adult (and two kids) tickets for a 12 hours sightseeing tour on a comfortable bus.
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