Sunday, September 7, 2008

Touring Pisa

I had originally booked 1 day with a sleep over in Pisa, however I got
many tips that an afternoon is really all you need. It's true ;)

When you arrive in Pisa, you can take a short bus ride to the tower. I
believe they must have re- organized their public transport system
because the info I had was not valid. Take the Lam Rossa toward
Bonnano bus stop and you are there.

Enter the Campo dei Miracoli pass the tacky Souvenir shops on your
right and on your left you will find in order: the Baptistry, then the
Cathedral, then the Tower.

We breaked for lunch on the grass and laid out some towels to take a
long break right in the shadow of the tower.

We then visited the inside of the Duomo which showed the same
Romanesque style of black and white marble as did the Duomo's of Siena
and Florence. Yeah, its getting repetitive ....

The Baptistry is very impressive as well. Actually it is the biggest
in Italy. I didn't even know about it until I saw this huge circle in
Google Earth. In fact, take a look at this area in Google Earth,
apparently the layout has significance. From what I read, the
Engineers purposely oriented the centers, doors, and other focal
points and spots where streets enter the piazza such that perfect
triangles and tagential lines can be drawn. Somebody is showing off
their math skills huh ?

So that was Pisa for us. We didn't go into the center, we headed back
to the station and took off for Lucca.

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