European Vacation: July 13, 2006

Day 22

Thursday, July 13, 2006

Tirrenia, Italy


Pat at the Leaning Tower

It’s hard to believe that we’re starting our fourth week of our trip. In just two days, we’ll board our ship.

We were too late to eat breakfast at the mess hall, but found out that the Italian coffee shop was open so we ate breakfast there. Mike got his usual coffee americano and a pastry. Pat got hot chocolate and a pastry.

Today we drive into Pisa which is about 30 minutes away. We want to see the Leaning Tower so we head to the Field of Miracles (Campo dei Miracoli) where the Leaning Tower is. We decide to get tickets to see the Leaning Tower and also the Duomo (Cathedral). There are 294 tilting stairs up the Tower and we climb each one, spiraling inside the Tower at a 5-degree angle, swaying as we spiral up. What incredible views of the surrounding city as we walk along the top. After descending the Tower, it feels like we’re still tilting as we step onto level ground.

The Duomo is a gargantuan Pisan Romanesque church. The building was begun in 1063. It is very impressive. The nave is 320 feet long. It is huge, bigger than a football field.

After our visit to Pisa, we head back to our room at the base to get into our bathing suits and head to the beach. Very much needed relaxation as we were getting tired and hot in Pisa. We went swimming in the Tirrenian Sea which was refreshing. The water was clear and you could walk out at least 100 yards and still be waist deep, where you could turn around and look back at a set of orange umbrellas and beach chairs on the beach.

After a couple of hours on the beach it was time to head back to our room and relax. After dinner, we did our laundry and got ready for going to Rome tomorrow.

Scenes from Pisa, Italy