I was headed for Pisa enroute to Florence in a week-long Italian backpacking sojourn. For many of you who don't know, there are actually more than 25 known leaning towers in the world including some in China. But none is as famous as the six century-old bell tower of the cathedral at Pisa.
I had about a week in Italy at my disposal and had planned to visit Rome, Pisa, Florence and Venice in a whirlwind trip. Lot many people visit Pisa as a day trip from Florence. But since I was short of time, packing a round-trip did not appear too taxing.
Friends from the virtual world advised that it was better to spend the night at Florence rather than Pisa. It’s not far from Florence and Pisa and there are pretty frequent trains connecting the two places. Tickets on the route have to booked at the station counter, as they are akin to local trains back home.So the final itinerary was to visit Pisa on my way to Florence.
As in the rest of Europe (at least the Western block) tourist infrastructure is immaculate. Politics in Italy could be as instable as the mental state of religious zealots operating in India, but the country sure has an extensive and efficient train transport system.
One-way ticket between Rome and Pisa in second class coach costs around 28 and gives enough leg space to comfortably breeze through two hours of Tuscan countryside. The train, which runs along the sea for some distance, provides an amazing sight in the quiet laid-back Tuscan sun. The journey takes around two hours.
Though I cannot think of keeping luggage at a cloakroom in any airport leave alone train station in India, I had no such scruples for Pisa. After depositing the backpack at the station, I was off to check out the tower. There are two ways of reaching the tower. You may take a bus next to the station or take a short relaxed walk through the middle of the town, as Pisa is hardly a city, size-wise .
I had about four hours before I caught the next train to Florence. Since most cities in Europe are as big as 2-3 adjacent colonies in an Indian city it was an easy walk to the Piazza del Duomo or the Cathedral Square (also known as Piazza dei Miracoli or Square of Miracles ) where the tower is located. Fully armed with a tripod and the old-world charm of a manual SLR camera I was off through the narrow streets of Pisa.
The weather was perfect with just the right dollop of sunshine. Midway I stopped at a gelateria which served an amazing triple cone of home-made gelato, or the Italian ice cream. Having tasted it in small boutiques across Rome as a regular dessert after my slice of pizza for three straight nights, this one was denser and came with the best ever flavour I have ever had.No doubt, whether in India or abroad, the best food is cooked in small nooks far away from the madness of larger joints.
After a 20 minute walk from the station I was there, staring at the white marble tower tiltig amazingly to what the guidebooks told me was the southwest direction. The tower's construction started in 1173 but was completed nearly 200 years later due to design glitches and intervening wars. It was supposed to be like any normal tall standing bell tower next to the 'duomo' or the cathedral.
Over time the leaning tower has made it the most visited attraction for tourists, much more than the other two beautiful buildings at the Piazza del Duomo – the cathedral and the baptistry. The tower has seven heavy bells one for each scale of music. The tilt itself is believed to be due to the characteristics of the sub-soil where the tower's foundation is laid.
And believe me, even without the tilt, the white round bell tower would have been a spectacular sight. It looks really beautiful with white balustrades and the tower standing serenely on a blanket of freshly cropped grass.
ET
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