It's Later Than You Think.: Pisa

I didn’t realise how much I wanted to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa until we got there, when a flood of memories came back, from a dim distant past and the boys, magazine come comic Look and Learn where I first saw a picture of Pisa when I was between the age of eight and ten http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pisa (it’s also where I think I first saw science fiction in the form of the Trigan Empire comic strip ... funny enough quasi Roman in style http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Trigan_Empire and http://www.triganempire.co.uk/home/).

First Site of IT proper!

Anyway I wasn’t sure if you could ascent the tower but just seeing it up close would have been good enough. We saw it first of all as we drove by Pisa from a distsnce of about a mile or so. It was smaller than I imagined but distinct from the surrounding area. I’ll come back to it in a minute.

Thet Made Me Do IT!

We got to within 400mtrs as we arrived at the campsite in Pisa, so close but so far. Campsite advertised as open from the 15th of March in the ACSI book ... not opening until 1st of April. It was one of those maybe fortunate closed campsite moments, because while it was stone throw from Pisa, it looked like a real grot hole.

We had to turn around and find the next nearest site www.lagoletamerici.it . Tamerici is new only eight years old, purpose built next to a lake, by grass fields for making hay, around ten miles from the steps of the Apennine Mountains. We turned up, they also weren’t opening officially until the next day, but the lady in charge `Frederica’ just said drive on in and stay. The area around the campsite is also a Camperstop and a picnic area/barbeque, and houses the Restaurant Tamerici, and the lake is for fishing. It’s a lovely spot.

We had to have an impromptu maintenance day, because the place in Genoa didn’t have working laundry facilities, and we were still pretty shot from all the walking in Bogliasco, and as mentioned in the post before this one (I think), I had loads of pictures and blog stuff to catch up on. Tamerici has good wifi that was free at the time, and Frederica is having repeaters installed at some point this season to extend the range. In any event I’m mostly upto date.

It Would Make a Quality Bathroom

A Shocked Bear

We stayed two nights caught up on chores, recovered our strength and went into Pisa before doing the drive to Rome.

My Go My Ticket My Has etc

Hollow

Techy Stuff

As above the tower isn’t huge, at only 55mtrs above ground, it’s also not made of a yellow coloured stone as depicted in my memory. It’s made of white marble, is entirely hollow from top to bottom and is the bell tower for the adjacent cathedral, and best of all you can go up it. We’ve taken pictures and made a video. The pictures can explain themselves. The entire cathedral complex is on the wonk by the way.

Bellend

Other notable points about the Pisa area: Hercules C130 Turbo Prop aircraft are a constant sight, I think there’s a military flight school there, Ryan air flies in at least five times a day maybe more. A large amount of the plain is below sea level, and is used for grazing cattle or growing grass (the campsite owners own 100 hectares and have 160 head of cattle for beef). There are large shipyards by the river, building super-yachts ... it is quite odd seeing a something designed to float, the size of maybe a four or five average terraced house wrapped in a giant sheet of what is effectively industrial cling film.

The Door to the Cathedral

We didn’t go into the cathedral, frankly I’m not religious and certainly not catholic, and we just couldn’t be bothered with anymore religious sites ... we feel that maybe we are dignifying their existence, by paying to see inside them. And how many different versions of the final judgement do you need to see to understand that if you have an immortal soul and you piss off god ... in a very old testament way, when your mortal coil is shucked you will suffer for eternity. It just seems disproportionate given the limited span of life in the Real World: Why not instead? You will suffer damnations the equivalent of your years of life, then once suitably abased, degraded shamed and tortured horrifically for say `coveting your neighbours ass’ you all shake hands, a nice smiley St Peter comes down to hell with a bucket of calamine lotion and some haemorrhoid cream gives you your Pearly Gate pass and of you trot into everlasting jollies.

After all eternity is quite a long time and aspirations of owning or acquiring a good ass show ambition.