Caroline_4

When we were in Florence we decided to take a trip to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

We travelled by taxi to the famous site. When we arrived its size and structure captured us. When you see the tower in pictures, you cannot imagine what it is like, so when you see it for real it is truly breathtaking.

We stood at the base for a long while, taking in its magnificence, and taking photos from every angle of every detail. Over fifty-five metres in height and eight stories high, that was a lot of photos. It was time to go inside. The inside was comparably incredible, with fine work and amazing architecture. The spiral steps were an intriguing feature.

The nerves started to come as we finally decided to climb the stairs and witness the view and feeling from the tower. As you do we counted the steps - 1, 2, 3, … 110, 111, 112. We were tired and nowhere near the top. We pressed on, our determination kept us going. The twisted path up towards the top created an uneasy feeling and tension. All the time you felt like you were going to fall off the steps or out of the tower.

Finally we reached the top, 294 steps later. Wow. It was absolutely beautiful. The view, the feeling. It was absolutely incredible. You could see the surrounding area, including the markets and all the miniature people below.

As one of the worlds’ most famous and remarkable bell towers, it certainly was an experience I am glad I had.

Back in Florence, our next stop was the Ponte Vecchio, the bridge over the River Arno. We observed it from the sides, taking in its majesty and uniqueness. We then walked over it, wanting to stop at every small shop along it (because they were mainly jewelers with such beautiful creations), yet we couldn’t as it was so long it would have taken too much time (which unfortunately we didn’t have). It was amazing to see the arts and crafts of the Italian people, with culture and traditions coming out through these creations.

Along the Ponte Vecchio, there were many padlocks locked to various places, especially to the railing around the statue of Cellini. It is popularly connected to the idea of love and lovers - by locking the padlock and throwing the key into the river, the lovers became eternally bonded. Unfortunately, this is an example of the negative impact of the mass tourism, where thousands of padlocks need to be removed frequently, spoiling or damaging the structure of the centuries-old bridge.

It was a full day of culture and traditions, focusing on artwork and architecture. The amazing views and sights were incredible.

Communication was helped by the slight English some people spoke, as well as our Italian phrase translation book, getting us through most of the confusion.

To view pictures of the Leaning Tower of Pisa and the Ponte Vecchio visit these websites: http://torre.duomo.pisa.it/towersgallery/eng/index_tour.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ponte_Vecchio