July 23 2018

Today Ralf checked something of his bucket list. The Tower of Pisa and he was not disappointed.

We had decided to cycle to a restaurant we had spotted that served a full breakfast, with eggs and bacon. The breakfast was good and cheap E7.00 for eggs and bacon, croissant, juice, coffee and toast.

We left La Spezia along the industrial port area.

We had to cross a river and then head uphill towards Lerici.  We had to stop at the lift bridge, it allowed a single yacht to go through.

We knew we had a “bump” to go over, but nothing we couldn’t handle. Actually the bump was even less than we thought it was going to be as we cycled through a couple of tunnels. There were no signs to say we couldn’t cycle through. The first tunnel was a little nerve-wracking as we didn’t put on our lights on, but it was a short tunnel. The second tunnel we put our lights on, although the car drivers were impatient.

We dropped down to Maria de Carrara and followed the coast almost all the way into Pisa. Most of the route had cycle paths, however, they were used by people on a leisurely ride to the beach.

It was difficult to define one town from another, one beach area ran into the next. Alot of the beach areas were private, very few were for the general public.

We did notice a lot of camping areas, but these were reserved for week-long campers. I had checked to see if they had “bungalows” which a lot of them did. They were available for a minimum of two nights and the camp-sites were a minimum of a week! No availability for touring cyclists.

We stopped for a rest under a tree and to buy some water.  We were expecting it to be expensive, but fortunately it was only E1.50 for 1.5 litres.  We are hydrating very well, as it is so hot by 10:00.

In Torre del Lago we headed inland to Pisa.

The road was a little busy, most of the cars gave us enough room. In Pisa we headed towards the train station, where our B& B was supposed to be located. We found the address, but no sign of a B&B. Italians seem to have a very different definition of what a B&B is supposed to be. This one was an apartment divided into rooms, it was more of a hostel than a B&B. Although breakfast was provided – you made your own coffee and ate Dollar Store crosissants!

Eventually we were able to get into our room and shower. At 3:30 p.m. we walked the short distance across the river to the Basilica and the Bell Tower (Leaning Tower of Pisa).

We were hoping to get tickets to climb the tower today. We had been on-line and it appeared as if you had to buy your tickets a day ahead. Unfortunately there were not any tickets available. As it turned out, you could buy tickets for the same day. The ticket office showed how many tickets were available and for what time. There were 35 tickets available for the 7:45 p.m. climb. We bought two tickets and had two free tickets to enter the cathedral. I never go into a church that I have to pay to enter.

We wandered the grounds and were amazed at the cleanliness of the area. We had a quick dinner of pasta at one of the surrounding bars/fast food areas.

At 6:15 we entered the cathedral and at 7:45 we began our climb of the tower. The tower was closed for 10 years to attempt to stop the tower from leaning any further. Inside the tower there is a plumb line – that shows the degree of the lean! At one time in its history it was 15 feet of the perpendicular, it is now about 17 inches!

The Bell Tower is only one of a few bell towers in Italy that are built away from the church. It was built as a separate tower to show the wealth of the area. However, the architects and builders did not take into account the weight of the marble and the fact that the ground is a mix of sand and marsh area. (Beware of Italian builders lol).

While we were taking photos at the top of the tower, of the view, we chatted to a couple of Americans, Michelle and Juan – who were on their first touring vacation – visiting sites and experience a different country. A really nice group of people from Rochester New York.

Ralf had wanted to walk the walls of the city, however by the time we said our farewells to the Americans, the walls were closed.

We walked back across the river to our mediocre B & B.

The wi-fi was non-existent in the B & B however if I sat on the balcony I could connect to the City\’s free wi-fi.  Unbeknownst to me I was being eaten alive by Italian Mossies that are vicious.