Pisa!

Today we went to Pisa, Italy, which boasts one of the most famous monuments in the world: the leaning tower of Pisa. Most of Pisa's popular attractions are all located within a main plaza, named Piazza di Miracoli. It is said that the piazza is called Piazza dei Miracoli because man can experience the 5 facets of a Catholic exsistance in one place: Birth at the Hospitale Santa Chiara, a Catholic baptism at the baptistry, comunnion, confirmation, marriage, and funeral at the Cathedral of Pisa, and burial (there is also a cemetery located within the piaza). As our tour guide Ricardo said, "If that is not a miracle for the Catholic man, I don't know what is..."We arrived at the bus depot located right next to a McDonald's, yes, you read correctly. We then walked to the Piazza dei Miracoli. On our way to the piazza, walked past all of the vendors and the"Plucci, Plendi, and other famous knock-off" sellers that were outside the city's wall. The Piazza and main portion of the town has one main entrance, as its protective medieval wall still remains intact and in very good condition. The one main entrance serves a good purpose, it builds the anticipation for what is a spectacular introduction to the marvelous and pristine piazza. The cathedral, Santa Maria Assunta, or St. Mary of the Assumption has a beautiful interior. Sixty-eight pillars that adorn the inside were each carved out from one single piece of gray marble on the island of Sardinia. Once completed, they were each sent over to Pisa by boat. The ceiling also has a great wooden carving that is covered in 24 karat gold. The inner dome has a splendid mosaic that depicts Jesus giving his blessing. The cathedral also has the body of its patron saint, St. Ranieri in a glass coffin.The leaning tower is truly a sight to see. It leans 4 meters, a little over 12 feet and has been reinforced to prevent any further leaning. The restoration of the tower has actually reversed the amount of incline that tower once had. The architects are sure that for now, it should stay in place for at least 200 years. For those of you that find themselves wondering, there is absolutely nothing inside the tower except for its marble spiral staircase. It was originally built as a bell tower. The tower is also the most expensive tower to enter in all of Italy, it costs 15 Euro, about 25 USD for the limited amount of time you are given to climb and descend-30 minutes. You also need a reservation to enter and entry is only given to 30 people at a time. As we only had one hour of free time, we did not go up the tower; however, we did admire it from the grounds. We spent the rest of our free time walking throught the vendor's stands.The drive back to Florence from Pisa was a lot better than the drive to Pisa. It was not because of the method of transportation, or the tour guide. It was because we were no longer sitting in front of the 3 ignorant and thoughtless women that talked the whole way to Pisa. They were so loud that it made it difficult to listen to the information that was given by the tour guide. They were so obnoxious and obviously didn't care about the historical facts that were being given. They were deep in conversation among themselves and were making phonecalls during the announcements. At one point Cindy had to tell them to be quiet--cave man style-- index finger to the mouth and index finger to the ear. She had to make sure they understood, as they didn't understand the stares or "shhhs." That aside, they also chewed their gum with their mouths open, ala cows. They supposedly spoke French but were not even listening to the French portion of the announcements. It was funny to see their faces when they were told by the tour guide that we would not be going up the tower! Had they been quiet long enough, they would have heard that part of the announcement and saved themselves from embarassment after demanding their tower tickets! Not sitting near them on the way back to Florence made the Tuscan scenery a lot more enjoyable.

Our day in Pisa was wonderful. The cherry on top was the delicious meal we were able to enjoy back at our apartment. Pox made spaghetti ala arrabiatta and garlic bread--yum. We have to give credit were credit is due!

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