Italy #8: Pisa e Venezia
Our trip to Pisa was to see the Leaning Tower. It took almost 200 years to build due to various wars (contrast that with the Colosseum which got built in a decade). At 55+ meters tall, and with 251 steps, it started to tilt during its construction itself. By the 1990’s, the tilt was almost 10 degrees. Subsequent restoration work has reduced the tilt a bit. When we climbed the tower, we could see several bells on it – hence its other, less famous name as the bell tower. Right next to the tower is a cathedral with a massive dome, named the Duomo di Pisa. We couldn’t go into that, but the cathedral next to it (see pic above) was open. Impressive artwork inside cathedrals was almost expected by now in Italy, and this one didn’t disappoint. ~~ And then it was a quick train tide back to Florence, pick up the bags and onto Venice. My wife had seen a lot of another water-y city, Amsterdam, so she wasn’t sure how different Venice would be. Until she saw it – very different. ...