Pisa and My Last Day in Italy

First, I feel compelled to mention the train ride. Some gypsy women boarded the train (which is not uncommon) and had some cute babies and went around demanding money from people. I must have REALLY looked like a sucker because I had 3 of them on me at once. I just smiled and played dumb, pretending I had no clue what they wanted. It was SO annoying though. I wished Neal was with me that that moment. I wanted to jump up all dramatic and bust out some MJ "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'"...

"If you can't feed the baby (Neal would have to do the yeah yeahs) then don't have a baby! (yeah yeah) And don't have a baby (yeah yeah) if you can't feed the baby (yeah yeah). You'll be always tryin, to stop that babe from cryin'. Hustlin' stealin' lyin'...that baby slowly dyin!" I wondered what those women would have done? I chuckled to myself at the pricelessness of that. But I digress.

So, another UNESCO World Heritage Site. I'm becoming obsessed with these things. I'm going to have to go back and count how many I've been to around the world. Hmmmm. That will have to be a new blog entry soon. Anyway, I made a quick stop. There isn't much to see in Pisa except for the Leaning Tower, but you know, it's one of those things you gotta see. The actual tower is on the other side of the city, so it took me about 30 minutes to walk over there.

The UNESCO Site actually includes The Piazza del Duomo (Cathedral Square), which is a wide, walled area at the heart of the city of Pisa. It is recognized as one of the main centers for medieval art in the world. It is partly paved and partly grassed (keep off the grass please) and is dominated by four great religious edifices: the Duomo, the Leaning Tower, (which is the cathedral's campanile or free standing bell tower), the Baptistry and the Camposanto.

The Leaning Tower began to lean soon after the onset of construction in 1173 due to a poorly laid foundation and loose substrate that has allowed the foundation to shift direction. steps have been taken to ensure the tower doesn't topple over and actually leans a little less than it did before 2001.

A bit of strangeness did ensue with a gaggle of what looked like Secret Service guys wrangling a few guys in suits. I tried to get a picture, but some tourist with binoculars blocked my dude with the stereo-typical ear piece with little microphone that Secret Service guys wear right as he was talking into it. (Curses!) You can kind of see it in the picture if you click on it.

So, with that, I got on the train back to Rome where I was hit by a downpour while attempting to do some last minute shopping. Didn't buy anything except for a scarf. That's ok, because I brought too much crap in the first place.
CIAO ITALIA! I will miss you, but there is still so much to see (hell I figure I've got at least 35 of the UNESCO sites to cross off my list) so I think I will be back very soon! In the meantime - Ciao L'Egitto!