Italy 2023

Giorno Venti

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Gisella, the lady we rent the apartment from and her husband, Giovanni, picked us up for a tour of Pisa. Gianni was born and raised in Pisa and loves the city, its architecture and its history. The road followed an old Roman road which was never straight. The trip was 25 minutes. We parked close to his brother's home and walked to Pisa's wall. The wall is older than Lucca's but only 4 or 5 feet thick. Inside the walls was the Leaning Tower – many tourists. But a truly beautiful sight with the Cathedral and Baptistry in the background. It was an impressive start to a tour of this amazing city.


Pisa Square is known as the Campo dei Miracoli.  Campo dei Miracoli (Square of Miracles) is a veritable miracle of architecture. It consists of four buildings - the Cathedral, Leaning Tower, Baptistry, and Camposanto, beautifully shown  on their lawn setting, It forms one of the outstanding architectural complexes in all of Italy.


We climbed many steps to the wall and walked all around it to view many of the churches and buildings of Pisa. We climbed off the wall by the Arno river. Beautiful area plus we came across a parade celebrating one hundred years of the Navy in Italy. Abbiamo camminato alla Piazza dei Cavalieri. (We walked to Piazza dei Cavalieri)  Beautiful piazza with a lot of history.


Poi siamo andati al pranzo. (Then we went to lunch.) We ate at a new restaurant recommended to them by their friends !


Dopo il pranzo abbiamo camminato poi alla casa di Gisella e Giovanni. (After lunch we walked to the car and then drove to Gisella and Giovanni's house.) Gisella was getting ready to sing in the chorus celebrating Bicentenario Comune di Capannori. (Bicentenary of the Municipality of Capannori.) The  chorus was very good, a relief too after over an hour of speeches by dignitaries!


Gianni and Gisella drove us back to  Lucca's wall.   Siamo tornati al appartamento - siamo molto stanchi.  (We returned to the apartment - we were very tired.)


Short visit with our Torre delle Ore (the clock tower) on the balcony.


The walls of Pisa
It is really leaning
The tower and Cathedral
planning
Cathedral and Baptistry in back
the Cathedral
Baptistry
Gisella
Very old
Starting to climb the wall
Not too wide
Dow and Gisella
view from the wall
Giovanni loves his city
"old Roman spa"
Meeting a friend on the wall
Giovanni and his lifelong friend - like a brother
The Arno
Celebration of 100 years
Proud lady with her Pisa flag
Lombaria - where my grandfather is from
Gisella works in Pisa
Piazza dei Cavalieri.
appetizer
frutti di mare salad with squid
fruti de marę with octopus
Seafood risotto
Spaghetti and clams
They remodeled the outside and by law must show the old stone
Mountain the separates Lucca and Pisa - Dante Mountains
Giselle and Gianni's home
outdoor seating area
Entrance with security gate
Celebration if Capannori
dignitaries
Gisella in the chorus