On January 21, Jen and I started our day trip very very early. We got up at 4:30am, left at 5am, caught the metro at 5:30am, and caught the train to Pisa at 6am. We made up for our lack of sleep on the train. The train ride took almost 4 hours, mainly because it was a local train that made frequent stops along the way. The train ride also gave us some beautiful views of the Italian country side, and even a few views of the rocky Italian coast!
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| Italian country side...going past at a high speed |
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| Bridge along the coast |
When we reached Pisa, four hours later, the sun was shinning and the temperature was warm. It was an odd feeling to be suddenly outside of Rome. Compared to Rome, Pisa seemed so small and quiet. The Arno River was peaceful and beautifully lined with colorful buildings. We wandered the streets, which were surprisingly straight and easy to navigate, and quickly came to the historical center of the city.
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| View along Arno River |
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| View across Arno River |
The Piazza dei Miracoli or the Piazza del Duomo is the historical piazza featuring the medieval catherdral of Santa Maria Assunta, its Baptistry, its Camposanto, and the Campanile (the free standing bell tower, aka the Leaning Tower of Piza). We spent most of the day in the Piazza going into the different buildings. We even paid 15 Euro to climb to the top of the Leaning Tower of Piza!
Climbing the tower was definately worth the money, because you do not realize how much the tower is tilting, until you are attempting to climb it's narrow winding staircases. As you wind your way to the top, you find yourself bouncing off walls, as you become disoriented from the lean. Even more terrifying however, is dealing with the angle at the very top. You have to step carefully so that you don't lose your balance!!
The cathedral and baptistry are also very beautiful. The baptistry's unique dome shape creates an interesting space. Although it wasn't extremely elaborate, the acoustics of the space were amazing! While we were inside, a man came in and started singing. His voice echoed beautifully together, filling the space with sound, and creating the illusion of an enchanting choir. The cathedral, on the other hand, was much more elaborately decorated, but lacked the interesting spatial characteristics. The most interesting part of the cathedral, however, was the pulpit and its mosaics.
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| Wow! It really is leaning! |
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| Stairs going up! Yes the camera is straight! |
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| Jen looking over the city, note the angle of the floor |
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| Jen and I at the top of the Tower of Pisa |
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| The door, again, my camera is level |
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| Had to take the tourist picture! |
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| The entire piazza is full of people doing this! |
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| The Baptistry |
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| The stain glass was amazing! |
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| Pulpit in the baptistry |
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| The baptistry font |
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| The cathedral |
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| Looking down at the cathedral from the tower |
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| Doors of the cathedral |
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| The whole piazza as seen from the tower! |
We ended our visit by wandering the streets of Piza and stopping in some of the local stores and shops. We then headed back for the train station, where, before boarding our train, we discovered that one must pay 60 cents to use the bathrooms. We desided to save our money, and boarded our train. All together, it was a great trip, but I'm glad that we only did it as a day trip, because it was just enough time for us to see what we wanted and also enjoy the town.
