Last day: Pisa






This grows in the city walls. When they bloom in June they’ll be capers!

And this again!
LOL

This map shows how close all the towns and villages we’ve visited in Tuscany are: Livorno, Pisa, Lucca, San Miniato and Vinci.


No rain today!🎉👏🏻

Population of Pisa is 100,000 plus 50,000 students. On a busy day, as many as 500 buses may bring tourists here. Our guide estimated 200 buses today. We got good advice from Max Patterson NOT to come in the summer if we could help it. Very hot and super crowded!

The cathedral is 1000 years old. Only those who were baptized could enter…so they built another church next door for the baptisms. 



Because 3 is a good number and of course a Catholic thing, (Holy Trinity, etc)  they built a third building: the Bell Tower. 

The ground is very marshy here so there is a lot of water in the soil. As they were building the Bell Tower when they got to the 3rd floor it was already sinking. Over the years there were many engineering modifications to try to stabilize it. (Taller columns on one side on the upper floors, removing some soil from beneath, etc) They were obviously successful because it’s still standing at 851 years old. Over 20 years of work and over €100 million.
The structure is a hollow column, built only as balconies for VIP’s. 


The Tuscany region is known for paper production. Poplar trees grow well in the watery soil. Most famous product: toilet paper!🧻  Even the poplar trees are leaning….



Galileo was born in Pisa and was baptized in the church (with the red dome). He dropped balls of different weights from the top of the leaning tower to discover the theory of gravity. (No, Deb and I were not there when gravity was discovered….)



Galileo also built a telescope to study the stars. This got him in tremendous trouble with the Catholic Church as this went against their beliefs. He was sentenced to death and recanted at the last minute, denying his theories about astronomy. Not until 1996 did the Church acknowledge that Galileo was right.

Umbrella pines are plentiful here. Their hard seeds are tough to crack but yield pine nuts. Our guide’s Pesto recipe:
  • Extra virgin olive oil
  • Pine nuts
  • Basil
  • Garlic
Serve over spaghetti with some grated Pecorino cheese and black pepper.😋


Last supper! Dave Scroggie will be spending his birthday on the plane home tomorrow so we’re celebrating tonight! This cake was waiting in their room from Viking!


Birthday party in the room before dinner:



Now for the presents. Michelangelo’s David aprons! Best souvenirs ever!😂😂😂



Same!! They’re like Quadruplets!







Still missing Chuck and Pamela but they made the right decision to postpone. We’ll work on a Plan B!

Arrivederci!




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