The absolute best part of seeing the Tower of Pisa may not actually be seeing the tower itself. The best part could possibly be watching the reactions of people as they come around the corner and see it for the first time. Seriously. This could be an entire YouTube series. If you've been there you know that the tower is inside the walls of the old city. (See image above) To get to it you have to walk down a small market street and turn a corner. And boom, there it is. Even we had a surprised reaction.
We didn't notice this phenomenal until we were leaving the gates but it was priceless. College students hollering, Japanese tourists squealing, senior citizens gasping. I have never wanted my video camera and and extra hour of time more than at this moment. Priceless.
Oh, and yes, the tower is an amazing structure of marble and is leaning. See pictures above.
Swing by next time you are in Pisa. It's worth the detour.
- Suzanne
Totally agree with Suzanne, when you turn that corner and see the tower for the first instant, you audibly gasp! I know I did it, and that may have been a first on this trip, even with all the amazing sites we have seen. Then going back to the gates and watching and listening to others just coming in is a great experience of shared humanity.
Unbridled human joy at it's finest.
And yes, it is huge, very clean and magnificent. We didn't know what to expect and thought maybe a dingy little dirty tower in a dirty part of town (you just never know how much these cities can afford to preserve these sites) - but in reality it is on par with the Taj Mahal in many ways. When in Italy, you have to go see it - surprisingly bucket list worthy
- Mike
P.S. The other fun people watching part was all of the people (like literally almost ALL of the people - including Izzy and Maddy!) lining up their "holding up" or "pushing down" the tower poses. Hilarious!
We didn't notice this phenomenal until we were leaving the gates but it was priceless. College students hollering, Japanese tourists squealing, senior citizens gasping. I have never wanted my video camera and and extra hour of time more than at this moment. Priceless.
Oh, and yes, the tower is an amazing structure of marble and is leaning. See pictures above.
Swing by next time you are in Pisa. It's worth the detour.
- Suzanne
Totally agree with Suzanne, when you turn that corner and see the tower for the first instant, you audibly gasp! I know I did it, and that may have been a first on this trip, even with all the amazing sites we have seen. Then going back to the gates and watching and listening to others just coming in is a great experience of shared humanity.
Unbridled human joy at it's finest.
And yes, it is huge, very clean and magnificent. We didn't know what to expect and thought maybe a dingy little dirty tower in a dirty part of town (you just never know how much these cities can afford to preserve these sites) - but in reality it is on par with the Taj Mahal in many ways. When in Italy, you have to go see it - surprisingly bucket list worthy
- Mike
P.S. The other fun people watching part was all of the people (like literally almost ALL of the people - including Izzy and Maddy!) lining up their "holding up" or "pushing down" the tower poses. Hilarious!
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