Sunday we drove into Pisa to see the famous Leaning Tower, about 2-1/2 hours from our castle. There is a myth that the Tower is leaning because it was built on sandy sediment and one side sunk nearly four feet part way through construction. In actuality, however, the list was created when an American tour bus group, having just scaled the 280 steps to the top, suddenly bolted to one side when someone yelled "McDonalds"!
In addition to the Tower, we toured the Duomo (cathedral) and Baptistry (as the name indicates, place for baptisms), which are all in a row and are part of an area called The Field of Miracles. The Baptistry is a high-domed round building with beautiful acoustics. Every half hour one of the guards stands in the middle and sings, creating his own harmonies using the echoes off the walls. Very cool. Other miracles on the Field include Rolex watches for 12 Euro and Gucci purses for 15. Simply amazing.
After Pisa, we headed to Lucca, a very well preserved walled city on our route between Pisa and home. There we rented bikes and rode the 2-1/2 mile trek around the city on top of the wall. Construction of the wall began under Roman rule in the 2nd century and then took on its present form in the 15th century, making it cannon-proof. This last "remodel" consumed one third of the city's income for 100 years, but was worth the investment as the city was never attacked. The wall is 100 feet thick at its base and about 30 feet high. I guess there must have been some sort of medieval truce during the 100 years of construction -- "all ye, all ye in come free, we're not finished yet!".
Pic 1 is a tourist favorite, Drew pushing over the Tower and Alex trying to keep it upright. Pic 2 at the top of the Lucca wall with our bicciclete (bicycles).
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