Day 4: Pisa and Florence

On our way to Pisa John did a little of this some of that and a few more of these. It was pouring buckets in Florence, so when we walked to the station we were drenched through. After an hour on the train we were pleasantly surprised to find a nice, dry Pisa. I was also pleased with my relatively low frizz. Good job, hair. We went to the Field of Miracles. One of the buildings there is a baptistry. We climbed to the top, of course, because John hates me. The acoustics in this place are amazing. The guard shows them off every hour by singing a chord.

Next up was our appointment with the leaning tower. The dirt there is soft, which made this campanile lean 15 feet. The baptistry leans 6, so it's not the only problem building they have. Also, after the first floor it was already leaning, so they built the second level tilted the opposite way to counteract the problem. Not the brightest bulbs in the chandelier.

Okay history lesson aside, it's story time. We climbed up some narrow, sloping stairs. It felt like the Mystery Spot in Santa Cruz. The stairs were also concave, I assume from years of use. But we made it to the top just fine. We saw the bells and had a great view to the other buildings there. (The duomo and the baptistry is in back). However, then they say okay, you can go up now. Excuse me? We already went up. But no, there's another level. So we climb some more. The stairs get narrower, steeper and creepier. (that's my fear of heights/claustrophobia/sore calves speaking. They were probably the same.) After a few pictures I'm ready to go back down post-haste.Which is when they say, okay you can go up now. The view from the very top really was great. Don't mind our out-of-breath faces. We trained for Italy by walking every day, not doing the stairmaster. You can really see the nave/transept design from up here. And you can really give your wife a heart attack leaning over the edge. Time was up and it was time to descend the creepy stairs. Although going down was much easier than climbing up. John really loved the tower. Once it was over, I appreciated the experience as well. But after 300+ stairs, we agreed no more climbing that day. Instead we enjoyed the field And toured the nice and flat Duomo. On our way back we had the most delicious panini. Mine was tomato and mozzerella and John's was some sort of prosciutto. We also had some amazing gelati. Creamy smooth, good flavor, inexpensive, and generous scoops. We loved Pisa. Back in Florence the rain had let up. We went to the baptistery there to see the gilded doors. And bronze ones. The two competition trefoils by Ghiberti and Brunelleschi were actually in a different museum which was closed Mondays. Instead we went in the Duomo. There's an ant version of me in front to show the immensness. The dome inside this cathedral was amazing. This is me telling John no I do not want to climb up to the dome thank you very much. Next John took me to a surprise place. Along the way we saw furniture being delivered via crane and balcony. Another church, Santa Croce. Teensy little cars. This one looked like a submarine baby. We crossed the Arno river. John loved this little waterfall part. I don't know what they're called. He wanted to try going down it in a tube. His "surprise" was more stairs. I'm not kidding. And after each level he'd say only one more, we're almost there. Lies. We ended up climbing to the top of the city. Of course it was worth it, because the views were breathtaking. (and not just of John) The Pitti Palace and Medici Gardens at sunset John worked the panoramic feature and took this great shot. Then we walked back into town while it was getting dark. I love lights on water. We went through the piazza with the copy of the David statue. The town really came alive at night. We stopped on the way home for dinner. I had spinach ravioli and John had seafood risotto. Not our favorite place in Florence, but at least there were other people in the restaurant with us this time.

P.S. One of my sister-in-laws made my cute hair clip. I'm guessing Katie.