Another thunder and lightening filled night was offset by the camping on the Area de Sosta (aire), with electricity, which ended up being completely free. A departure at 9am and we left our new German friends Klaus and Christa, who had been very kind and helpful in advice and further places to stay.
Onwards to Pisa then. Time to be a tourist once again, which is what we needed to do. Getting into Pisa was easy, getting fuel proved initially difficult with the self service thing not working at the pump, but then we managed to park up. A stroll through Pisa eventually led us to the thing that everyone goes to see.
Initially, we weren't that impressed by the 'lean', it didn't seem quite leany enough. Upon ambling round to the side though, and it all became quite apparent what a truly bonkers building this is. Apparently, when building it, it leant the other way at about 3 stories high, they then over compensated and it flopped the other way.
We were truly lucky though in a couple of respects. Firstly, the weather was having a break and the sun was beginning to break through, secondly, only age 8 and over were allowed up the tower. Jasper being 5 days short of his 8th birthday was keen to go up. Thankfully I had the passports with me, so a smile in the direction of the ticket lady and a 'pleaseeee' allowed him the chance to go up. Clare and Maya had to stay at the bottom though.
294 steps to the top. Jasper and I beat the bus load of Japanese tourists to the top. In fact, we pretty much ran to the top. 10mins later, they all arrived huffing and puffing. It was an odd sensation walking up it though. Half the steps feel easy as the steps go around the whole circumference of the tower. The other half, against the lean I presume feel harder. Once at the top, the views were brilliant of the Pisa plain. Quite marvellous! It was a slightly odd sensation on the offset floor, but we were doing better than most as we enthusiastically rounded the top a few times. Other people were clinging to the inside wall and shuffling around for some reason!?!
The tower itself leans at 5 degrees, it was once 5.5 degrees pre 1990, but they pulled it in a bit. The best way to demonstrate the lean is this photo of Jasper. The horizon is level as Jasper stands in the window in the tower.
It still has a 4.5m overhang at the top compared to the bottom which I think is quite significant!
We rounded off our visit with the obligatory photos of us holding the tower up, or pushing it further over!!!
From here on in, we followed the advice from the Germans to go and find a place for the night. In short, the place we found has been wonderful, a slight upgrade on our previous night, but we are very happy.
The grumble is though the terrible state of the Italian roads. They are absolutely shocking. It might just be the roads we have used, but our experiences thus far are that the roads seem woefully neglected. I have been wincing many times and not resting easy in the drivers seat as bumps set the van violently rocking and banging with me desperately hoping that the bikes will cling to the back. Potholes and expansion sections of bridges seem to just want to rip the tyres off. It has not been an easy pleasant set of driving yet. To be honest, it makes the M20 from Folkestone upward in Kent, seem like a billiard table.
However, all experiences, positive and negative add to the mix!
None of this will be forgotten!
Ed
No comments:
Post a Comment