Our last stop in Italy was Pisa. All we saw there was the tower. By that stage we were totally touristed out. The narrow, twisty streets no longer beckoned invitingly. The river did not call out to be followed. Streets lined with market stalls held no allure. We were footsore and tired. And HOT! After we arrived at the Pisa train station, we tramped through the streets with heavy packs and chafed feet. We flopped onto the beds when we got to the bungalow at the campsite. (Twin beds again – do no campsites in Europe cater for couples?) And it was hard to motivate ourselves to get up and walk to the tower. Thank goodness it wasn’t far – less than a kilometre from our bungalow.
It was well worth the walk in the heat, though. The tower is lovely. Even taking away the curiosity of the lean, it is a most impressive building. N and I agreed that it was the prettiest building we had seen in Italy. It is clean and shiny white. The detail is fantastic. You approach the tower across the Piazza de Miracoli (Square of Miracles) which is surrounded by an inviting green lawn. (We had to test it out and lay all over it for a while. Definitely softer than the campsite grounds we have experienced up till now.) The tower hides away behind a Cathedral, which is a beautiful building in its own right.
You notice the tower’s strange lean as it peeks out from behind the wall of the Cathedral.
The lean becomes a whole lot more pronounced when you get closer and see it standing alone, but next to the straight wall of the Cathedral.
The tower is a feast of columns. The columns are topped by fantastic details. The one that most caught our fancy was a group of strange monkey type figures. Monkeys? Demons? We weren't quite sure. Here's a picture - you decide.
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