This is our last morning on the ship. As I write we're sitting in port in Civitavecchia, north of Rome. We have to be off the ship at 8:30 a.m. to catch our coach to Rome, where we have one more night before we fly home. This has been quite a trip and I've seen a lot and had a great time, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss our flat and garden and coffee pot and washing machine (in that order).
Yesterday we woke at the port of La Spezia, on the coast of Tuscany. Dave and I boarded a chartered coach to Pisa with a guide and a group of passengers, in order to take a quick look at the leaning tower. When we pulled up outside the square where the tower, cathedral and baptistry were built, I told Dave, "It looks just like it does in Bugs Bunny cartoons!"
And then I looked back at my post from almost 20 years ago, after my last trip to Italy, and realized I made exactly the same joke back then. At least my brain is consistent.
As on my previous visit, I didn't climb the tower. For one thing, it costs money. Also it seems inherently unwise to ascend a building that looks so fundamentally off-kilter. I mean, my rational mind knows it's not going to fall over at the moment that I'm inside it, but that doesn't mean an animal instinct doesn't tell me, "Don't go in there!"
So instead we settled into a cafe on the piazza, where we had a good view of the crowds and could watch the light change on the tower and cathedral.
We also admired the quartet of hunky Italian police officers keeping an eye on things.
Afterwards we took a brief tour of the older parts of town, rolling around in a "trolley" (which was really another mini-train, like the one we took in Messina). We crossed the river and saw some of the more noteworthy buildings, and a few sites that were heavily damaged in World War II.
And then we headed back to La Spezia, where we had lunch on the ship overlooking the colorful container port. I was so entranced with this view that I went up on the top deck and took pictures at a couple of different times, catching the light as it changed. That big MSC freighter eased up to the dock with the aid of a pair of tugboats as we watched.
And now I have to go pack. Coming to you tomorrow from Rome!
In your photos it doesn't have as much lean as I see in comic/cartoon pictures.
ReplyDeleteThe iPhone will actually correct the lean, thinking it's a problem of camera distortion! But I took these with my big Canon camera, which doesn't have that big of a "brain," so if the lean isn't apparent it's probably just a matter of angle or perspective.
DeleteYou have had a wonderful trip, even though you make the same jokes 20 years later!
ReplyDeleteKind of scary, huh?!
DeleteWhen in Rome!!!!
ReplyDeleteIndeed!
DeleteI love that you could appreciate the art in the containers. I climbed the tower in the 70s. So cool. And no guardrails when you stepped to the edge. Not so cool. The stairs awe worn from side to side in the spiral. I loved that.
ReplyDeleteNo guardrails?! Yikes! I'm pretty sure it has rails now, but as I said, I didn't go up to look!
DeleteNo way it would still be without guardrails now. It was thrilling.
DeleteYou really are having a Grand Tour.
ReplyDeleteHitting all the stops!
DeleteNot only because of the leaning but the height and looking out from the top are already making my knees tremble, so I wouldn't climb the tower either!!
ReplyDeleteAnd I love the shipping container photo; beauty is all around if we just look for it.
I was really taken with how colorful the port is. And color-coordinated too!
DeleteBrains constantly amaze me. I sometimes read back parts of my old journals and see similar bits of humor that I would still write about today too.
ReplyDeleteWe're always changing, but some inner core stays the same!
DeleteI think it's a tribute to pr that a failed building gets famous and earns its keep. It doesn't look as leany as I expected.
ReplyDeleteThis has been a massive trip, quite long and packed. I can see some lying down when you get home.
It looks more "leany" from certain angles.
DeleteYou have really been on the move. Enjoy your last days and wishing you safe travels home, Steve.
ReplyDelete"If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium."
DeleteThank you for taking us along on this wonderful Mediterranean tour.
ReplyDeleteI hope it has been enjoyable!
DeleteI'm not sure if it is the perspective from your position, but the trees on either side of the tower look like they're leaning too. Those are quite the views!
ReplyDeleteThe guide actually pointed out that the tree to the right of the tower leans at almost exactly the same degree! Pretty funny.
DeleteI did not realize the Tower was part of a whole complex. As part of a cathedral complex, what is it's purpose? Is it actually used for anything other than tourists?
ReplyDeleteIt was built to be the bell tower. There are bells at the top, but they "ring" now from a computer to save stress on the building.
DeleteI haven't visited Pisa so I love seeing your photos. I went back and visited you older post and had to laugh at your comment about traffic in Rome being insane. That was my very first observation about Rome on the cab ride from the airport to the hotel. That was what my dad would call a "white knuckle" ride.
ReplyDeletePart of the problem is that Rome is so old, and there are very few clear-cut, large-volume roads in the center of the city. So everything is twisty-turny.
DeleteI'm trying to decide if I'd go up in the tower or not. It does seem rather precarious - & even if I didn't think it would fall, I think *I* might fall from vertigo inside that thing!
ReplyDeleteYeah, it just sent warning bells to my brain!
DeleteAll told this has been a wonderful trip.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if they've hidden some steel inside the leaning tower to ensure no fallout. Like you state, the lean brings thoughts of, what-if? It does look questionable to me. Tell me the structural steel is installed for safety and I'm good to go.
The piazza looks beautiful. The adjoining cafe makes a perfect time to watch the world go by.
Those containers are colorful and really do speak to me!
Have you seen container homes? Building a custom container home overlooking the sea would be amazing.
Safe travels.
They have apparently shored it up from below with modern engineering, but no one has mentioned steel! I have seen container homes and they're a great idea, but I suspect they'd be hot, even with insulation.
DeleteI wouldn't able to handle climbing the tower. Physically OR mentally.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad I'm not alone on that!
DeleteThat cartoon comparison gave me a good chuckle, plus your brain staying consistent over twenty years is pretty impressive. Skipping the climb makes total sense because looking at that tilt definitely triggers a gut instinct to stay on solid ground. Sitting at the cafe to watch the crowds and admire the local police sounds like a much better plan anyway. Those changing light photos of the container port are beautiful, but now the real work of packing begins. Wishing you a safe coach ride to Rome, hopefully your home coffee pot is waiting for you soon.
ReplyDeleteI'm back home now, answering these comments, so YES, I have already indulged in the coffee from my coffee pot and I am so happy!!!
DeleteI can't believe you didn't climb the tower. What a story you would have had.
ReplyDeleteI'm happy to just look at it.
DeleteYou've certainly seen some great sights.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your time in Rome and safe travels home.
All the best Jan
Thanks, Jan!
DeleteI just had to zoom in to examine the scaffolding work in the second last photo.
ReplyDeleteThere is an absolute overload of colour in the last photo.
Such impressive scaffolding it is, too!
DeleteI absolutely love that you are making the same jokes over twenty years, and I'm ever so grateful to have been reading your writing for nearly that long!
ReplyDeleteIt really is funny how our brains stay so consistent in some ways and yet change in others. Yeah, it's amazing how long we've been blogging!
DeleteThat last picture looks like a child's colorful building blocks! I think that climbing stairs in a leaning building would be hard on the knees.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I wonder how that works. It must be a very precarious feeling.
DeleteI did climb the tower (many, many years ago) and it was frightening. Dizzying!
ReplyDeleteOK, now I'm glad I didn't do it! LOL
Delete