Sunday, April 7, 2013

DAMN! That Thing Really Does LEAN!

 

Sunday was field trip day.  We purposefully chose not to have an early start to the day.  The night before we had climbed to Piazza Michelangelo for wine and sunset.  THAT really helped me get some steps on my pedometer!  To be kind, the ladies took the “easier” way up…which was driveways not stairs .

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SO…after a very fun “all you can drink –it’s included” dinner…the ladies headed their way…I went to my place…and we agreed the next day we would go to Pisa.

We checked the train and bus schedule and had planned to train there.  Somehow, when we got to the train station, the trains were not scheduled…so Plan B…we took the Ryan Air Bus to Pisa. 5 Euro and it was leaving in 10 minutes.  PERFECT timing!

On the bus we found out that the trains were on strike today…so they were cancelling trips one or two at a time.  Thankfully the bus was an option

The ride is about an hour.  Kari and I snoozed.  The bus takes you to the airport, and then you take the local bus to Pisa.

At the airport we met people from Bellingham and Camino Island…and the Bellingham people knew the family we had met in Venice the day before.  REALLY small world!

So we jump on the local bus…our ticket is good for 70 minutes…but we were silly and validated before the bus was moving…and we sat for 10 minutes…well…we could possibly get done in an hour…Rumor has it it’s a tiny place.

We arrive in good order..the bus drops you right at the gates of the complex.

The Tower is part of a series of buildings.

The complex is The Tower, The Duomo  and the Baptistery.

IMG_8997  Here is the Duomo and The Tower.  Reading up on the area, I have since found out the tower has ALWAYS leaned!   It is a bell tower, was started in 1173…and by the time they got to the 3rd floor…it was tilting.  By the time they finished it in 1350, the tilt was permanent.  The Tower’s real claim to fame is that it is said THIS is where Galileo did his experiments in regards to gravity (WOW)

Here is a better shot of the “lean”

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OK…enough of that…we all know why THIS little field trip was made.

IMG_9012 Here’s The Terrible Towel picture

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IMG_9002  To practice safe building holding…I figured I better help Kari!

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Because the grass is cordoned off, it was hard to get all the girls in one shot so we took the silly pics

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Then this bird decided it wanted in on the action:

IMG_9019 (click on this one…see the girls laughing…the bird literally almost landed on my head…he parted my hair as he went sailing over)

We walked around a little bit more before heading back to the airport for the bus ride home.

IMG_9030IMG_9025IMG_9024IMG_9023(Tower almost looks straight from right underneath it!)

We were there for more than an hour so we rebought tickets for the bus.  Not bad at 1.50 Euro.  Again we got to the airport to find the bus was leaving in 10 minutes…more perfect timing. 

The ride back to Florence was quick, uneventful and quiet.  More snoozing commenced.

I had a solo dinner and then packed it in.  Tomorrow means I only have 2 full days left!  I knew the time would fly…and it has!

2 comments:

  1. Love it!
    When we were there with our kids, we ate pizza in a pizzaria in Pisa. They thought that was the best joke.

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