There she is.....the only reason anyone has heard of the town of Pisa. It was originally built as the belfry for the church behind it. Started in 1173, it went through at least three architects before being completed in 1350. The last two architects tried to correct the problem on inclination, caused by a subsidence in the soil, by adding tiers slightly tilted back the opposite way. The rest of Pisa......not the coolest place in the world. In a way it's like Roswell, NM - it's only known for one thing and once you've seen it you might as well leave.
Of course we tried to get the predictable shots of us trying to hold up the tower using cheeky angles, but some times it works out best to go with the standard couple shot.
A view of the "Campo dei Miracoli" or field of miracles which includes the tower, church, and baptistery in Pisa.
After Pisa, we headed north to the beach town of Viareggio on the Ligurian Sea to see how the Italians do the beach. Most of it is privatized, so you have no choice but to buy chairs and an umbrella for the day (about 25 Euros, plus 4 Euros per towel). It was a pleasant experience with plenty of people watching, but the water could've been cleaner.
One first at the beach was watching a girl around the age of three pee in a hole in the sand then about an hour later proceed to poop in a sand bucket. It's cool though, after covering it with sand it made it to the trash can. We also saw plenty of speedos and just plain small bathing suits on all ages, shapes and sizes. Don't worry no pictures of that.
-- Justin
