Europe Day 11 - Pisa

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Because the Tower of Pisa is about 1.5 hours away from Florence and that's about the only attraction there, many say that it's overrated and not really worth it to go. Considered our options, and when Samsung used Tower of Pisa as the landmark for Italy, we knew we couldn't miss it.

I still think I'm a genius for choosing to sleep in Prato. It's way cheaper than Florence/Pisa, yet way easier to drive than in Florence (More on that later). And it is of course faster for us to reach Pisa since it's between the two cities.

Today is gonna be a super rushed day cos we only have the morning for Pisa and afternoon/night for Florence. I think I'm becoming an expert at planning these touch-and-go vacations. Most people frown upon this kind of itinerary and say it's 'too rushed.. it's a vacation and i want to enjoy my time at each place'... etc etc. But time is so precious. Anyone working will know how much annual leave we can afford to take.. and of course, $$ as well. It's unlikely we'll get a 2nd chance to come back here, so I would want to see with my own eyes, as many places as I can, even if it means rushing. Yea, I'm the kiasu type who just wants to be able to say, I've been there. And take that compulsory proof-of-travel photo.

Somewhere near Pisa.. there were these fields of sunflowers. If only we had the luxury of stopping to photograph them.. (I sound like I'm contradicting myself. But it's more because we were travelling with others that we didn't stop, not cos of the lack of time)

When you reach the area, you go through this little gate, and voila!


Magnificence!


There are people who go, 'huh? like that only ah?' when they see this.. But I really felt privileged to right here, to be able to witness this.

On close inspection, you can see that on the left side of the base, it is very shallow, however the right side has sunk so much from ground level. In order to go up, you have to book well in advance, and even then, there may be a 1 to 2 hour wait.

We waited around and asked quite a few photographers before one took this good one for us. It's really hard to find a good photographer who can take everything in for you. Have to find someone who is willing to squat and contort themselves, and preferably someone holding a big camera so he knows how to handle yours (doesn't always work). For this, it was a lady who helped us, and even then we had to judge and shift ourselves such that we were framed nicely. Luckily I am quite good at self-camwhoring.

They were selling these replicas everywhere. Very cheap way of owning some Italian art.

There is nothing much to do here at Pisa so the only entertainment is to take stupid photos with the tower of Pisa. Pb was really reluctant to but I managed to make him. Muahaha.

'please stop posting unflattering photos of me on your blog!'



Even Bart Simpson had a go at it.