After a busy weekend, we are settled back in Florence for another week of classes. Saturday we hopped on a train, headed for the town of Pisa. As most of you know, the town is famous for the one and only.... Leaning Tower of Pisa.
Hannah, Colleen, and Jennifer chose to climb the 294 steps of the LEANING tower, which, thanks to our apartment, we were already well conditioned for. The climb was quite entertaining. And yes, you most certainly can tell you are in a leaning structure. On the ascent, we found ourselves "leaning" towards the center walls, trying to gain some center of balance. The stairwell was extremely slender, and the higher we climbed, the skinnier the stairwell. Not to mention the steps, which were extremely worn from the thousands of feet that climb the tower every year. After climbing for a weee bit, we reached the first level. We must admit, that high up in the air, on a leannnning structure, we were a little shaky. After a few minutes of capturing the view, we were taken to the second level where the bells were. The excerpt from the postcard below explains a little more about the seven bells. At last, we were taken to the third and final level, located 186-183.3 feet in the air (depending which side you stand on :) ). Breathtaking views, people the size of ants, and a chance of a lifetime experience. We could hardly take it all in... I forgot to mention, on the way up we made acquaintances with a precious Aussie couple. After explaining that we were from Mississippi, the couple immediately replied with a "oh we've been to the Mississippi River", and we loved how they called St. Louis St. Loouueeyyy. Below are a few pics of our spectacular view and the tower..
We found this cute little postcard containing a few facts about the tower that we'd like to share with you...
"My construction was begun in 1173 by Bonano Pisano and finished after 99 years by Giovanni di Simone. Tommaso di Andra Pisano crowned me with a bell- cell. My height is 183.3 feet on the low side. My maximum height is 186 feet. My interior base diameter is 24.2 feet. My exterior base is 50.9 feet. I have 8 floors and 294 steps. I rest on foundations about 9,10 feet. My total weight is 14.732 tons. My leaning is 14.9 feet. In my bell-cell there are 7 bells, 1 for each note of the major musical scale. From my summit Galileo Galillei performed his famous trial about gravitation. For all I said i am one of the Seven Wonders of the World."
We'd like to continue sharing a few more of the things Italians do quite differently in this country... here we go!
- Washing your clothes in America, approximately 50 minutes. Washing your clothes in Italy, approximately 2 and a half hours!
- Bidet, the cute little toilet-looking device located in the bathroom, is used to wash off your feet after a long day of walking on the cobblestone streets.
- We happen to live on the same street as an Italian high school. The students go Monday- Saturday, however, everyday they get out around the early afternoon so they can take a "siesta" or nap.
Excerpts from our journals:
"Scussi, do you mind if we come in and paint in your garden." In reference do Duncan ringing the doorbell of a private garden, speaking in English, in the land of the Italians.
"We've been to St. Loouuueeyyyy."
"I think all of my arteries are going to collapse." (Jaclyn after having an "American" supper at McDonalds)
Tomorrow we are going to share our adventure to Cinque Terre from this past Sunday. Rock climbing and hiking are just a few of the things in store. Until then...
Molto Amare,
Jack and Jenn
CIAO!!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment