My Trip to France and Italy, Day 14

Here's me in front of the sign at the Hotel Costa Verde. I'm pretty sure the sign says something like "It is prayed to keep the frame free. Thanks". I'm guessing that means "Don't block the entrance to our Hotel". My hair is also very red.

We walked down the road by the hotel, which led to the sea.

There was a big boat not too far away.

Here's Becky, and the sea.

Here's Maryrose enjoying some breakfast.

And this is a quick look around. We were at some small beach with some food shops, then a ton of chairs and umbrellas for rent.

We're back in the car. I'm navigating again, and Maryrose is again at the wheel. In the far background, right next to that pair of signs, is a castle that looked a lot kewler than this picture...

Thankfully, the road did a little wrap around, so we ended up seeing that castle again. Here's a better shot of it.

This is just a clip of us driving around along the coast.

We ran through another coastal town. I liked that tower, so I took a picture.

After a little driving around, we managed to find Pisa, and with a little more wandering, the leaning tower of Pisa. Becky and I entered the square while Mindy and Maryrose found a place to park (A cop was walking towards our illegally parked car as we started walking, so they wisely decided to move it.

Here's our first look around the square.

This is the Baptistery. Like in Florence, and the other cities in Italy, this was the center of the old city. There was the church (duomo), the baptistery, and the bell tower. The leaning tower was built to be the bell tower.

You can see the duomo in front, then the leaning tower just behind it.

Here's a pretty good shot of the tower. You can see that it does indeed have a pretty fine lean going on.

All along the other wall of the square were shops selling ... well, pretty much only selling crap that no one could possibly want.

Here's a look all the way around the square. The square itself was really nice: lush and green, with a fine wall surrounding it. The town was kind of a hole... A hole with no sense of direction.

Here's Becky and me with the tower

The last one was kinda dark... and we were still waiting for Mindy and Maryrose to return. So here's another shot.

Here's a shot that manages to make the tower look like the only thing level in the whole town.

The tower was closed off so no one could go in it from 91 - I think 99 or so. It was starting to get really dangerous I guess. But they did some repairs, put some lead on the bottom to counter-balance it, and leveled it slightly, and no you're allowed to go on in it again.

You can see that there are some people on the very top.

It seems inevitable. If you have a tall building that's leaning, you've got to get a picture where it looks like you're holding it up. Well, apparently everyone, no matter where there from, has this very idea. So here's a look around while every tourist in the square lines up to get the infamous picture taken. It is quite funny to just look down the line, and see 9 or 10 different families all lined up and posing. If you don't line it up right, they just look like idiots.

Here's a last close look at the tower, the duomo, and the baptistery. At the end, you can see another batch of tourists doing the "I'm holding up the tower" pose.

Here's me and the tower.

Me with the leaning tower. On the side, you can see Mindy. She and Maryrose are posing for the "leaning on, and holding up, the leaning tower" picture.

And with that, we left, and headed back to Florence. We were in a bit of a hurry, as the car had to be back at noon. In front of us is another lovely car.

We made it back (a little late) to the car garage, dropped off the car, and then stopped off at a nearby internet cafe. I was broke at this point, so I just sat down for a half an hour.

The rest of the computers we in that back room there.

Okay, this is how I was going to make it back. We were in Florence. I had to take a train to Milan, then Lyon, then Paris. In Paris I'd arrive at the North Station, and take the RER B to the Airport, and take the second stop. Then I'd take a shuttle bus to Gate 2A, which is where I could get my E-ticket. No problemo.