Italy Part 7: The Leaning Tower of Pisa

The Leaning Tower of Pisa, situated in the Piazza dei Miracoli (Field of Miracles) -- tourist hot spot, and one of the most recognized structures in Italy. One beautifully clear morning, we set off to see what all the fuss was about.

First off, we can say with all certainty: the tower indeed leans.


Why didn't they build the foundation deeper than 10 feet? No one seems to know. Funnier still is the view when you look back across the field next to the tower:



Recognize the poses? Right. Yeah, we didn't do that.



The entire set up is a bit strange. You drive into the city of Pisa and all is normal and fine, then suddenly everything opens up, and there are these wide expanses of grass around several beautiful buildings -- all with at least a slight lean.



(One would think that after the first enormous, expensive structure began to lean, that they would call it quits on the sandy, unstable ground, but no. Apparently that was no setback for these architects -- the tower was the third of the four great religious edifices.)

The foundation of the tower


The tower and all of the other buildings are very beautiful, but there was something sad about the fact that the entire place has become a mere tourist trap. It costs at least 5 euro to buy a ticket into EACH of these buildings. The other side of the street is completely lined with little souvenir tents selling plastic and ceramic leaning towers, shirts, bags, and miniature Pinocchio puppets (present at all tourist stops nationwide).




There is controversy over who it was who actually built the tower, but what is known is that the structure began to lean after only the third floor was built. Construction was halted for about 100 years. Giovanni di Simone, an architect, began work on it again in 1272, and built 3 more floors, tilting them in the opposite direction to try to compensate for the already flawed building (thus, it is actually curved).

In 1319 the 7th floor was completed, and then the bell-chamber added in 1372. I'm really not sure why they decided to add a bell tower, as this just adds to the weight at the top, and contributes to the lean.

The tower leans more every year. In January of 1990, it was closed to the public, because it had acquired a lean of 14-1/2 feet of the center line. They took the bells out of the top of the tower and used cables to pull the building in the opposite direction, while removing some of the soil from the raised side. The tower has now been opened back up to the public (supposedly safe for another 300 years), although children under the age of 8 are not allowed inside.

Our boys were sad because they dearly wanted to go up inside of the tower, but the rules are firm. We, obviously, didn't go up either ("Yeah guys, you know about that tower you've been begging to explore? Well, Mommy and Daddy are going to take turns, but you're not allowed". That would have just been cruel.) I'm not much on heights anyway, so I didn't feel like I was missing out.






We decided to buy tickets to check out one of the two museums. Very unfortunately, the interior of the museum was simply filled with artifacts that had been displaced from there original places in the Cathedral and Baptistry, which are located a mere several hundred yards away. Not only were the things on display poorly set up, but the walls were an institutional whitewash or brick, and the floors plain tile.



We quickly left this place with a bitter taste in our mouth, and decided that it was time for lunch.

Since our little ones were very hungry by this point, we didn't have time to explore the town for something a little further away from the Piazza dei Miracoli. Instead, we stopped at the first trattoria that we came across, and were surprised to eat a rather delicious meal of pizza, fresh salads, and pasta.

Cured beef, arugula, shaved parmesan


Our overall feeling about Pisa was that the tower is something that's worth seeing, but that's pretty much all there is to the place. I've read online that there is actually more to the city, so maybe we'll go back someday to check it out, but for now, I've had enough. Hey, at least the food was great!




To read a more in depth history on this tower, click through to the Wikipedia article.

Next post: Parma, Maranello and Bologna

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Italy Part 6: Piazza Santo Spirito Flea Market

On the second Sunday of every month, a flea market is set up in the Piazza by the Santa Spirito.  A fascinating mish-mash of the good, the ugly, the delicious and the seemingly useless all gather into one place for the local and tourist alike to peruse at leisure.




The entire place is packed with sellers and shoppers, all looking to score the perfect deal, or turn over some old, neglected treasure.

Diver's helmet, anyone?




I have a serious weakness for handmade, hand-cut soaps.  There's something just so perfect about their less than perfect edges, their somtimes craggy exteriers, and their alluring herbal fragrances.  The only problem is, I am in love with the experience of being surrounded by tables of it.  This is clearly not practical, and so, in lieu of buying the whole booth, I moved on empty-handed.




I was truly surprised at some of the things that were up for sale.  Is there really that much of a demand for miniature cacti?




During our long car trip to Italy, I managed to knit (or finish up) three hats and three pairs of mittens for my little ones.  On days like this, they proved to be just the thing for blocking out the chill while enjoying time outside.




I love baskets, but unfortunately, we were packed to our eyeballs in the car with no room to even think about picking up a few of these.




The selection of dried fruit and candy at this stall was rather extensive.




We stopped to have a snack and played around the fountain:




Then we ate a fine lunch of beef intestine sandwiches (Lamprodotto) and thick chestnut crepes filled with fresh ricotta (Necci con Ricotta), before we headed back to the hotel for a much needed nap.



Check out these pictures and more in the photoset: Piazza Santo Spirito Flea Market

Next post: Famous leaning tower.

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Italy Part 5: Eating Italian

Whenever our little family unit travels, our first and foremost priority is always food-centered. And we always approach our food experiences the same: eat what and where the locals eat. The way a city or country eats speaks a lot about them; their location, their passions, and the way that they socialize.

As a family of intense foodies, we were thrilled to discover this book before we left for our journey: The Food Lover's Guide To Florence (with culinary excursions in Tuscany), written by Emily Wise Miller. Her insight into the heart of Florentine food culture, mixed with informative and sometimes humorous reviews of restaurants, pastry shops, bakeries and gelaterias proved to be invaluable to us as we navigated the city.

It's far too easy to fall into the typical tourist rut of stopping at the most well lit place on a main street right next to some landmark. While pretty much all of the food that we ate in Florence was delicious, the truly wonderful meals were found just a bit off the beaten path, and with Emily's book guiding our steps, we were able to actually eat as the locals eat.

Our one complaint of this book is that the maps are a little less than detailed, and so we wandered a bit in the first few days of our visit, but all in all, I would highly recommend this book to any traveler visiting Florence.

One interesting insight into Italian eating is their near religious dedication to the dinner hours. Breakfast is generally eaten between 7 and 9 am and includes the usual European spread; small helpings of sliced meats and cheeses, fresh bread, quark (basically yogurt), whole-grain cereal, dried fruit, and coffee. We always ate breakfast at our hotel, Hotel Belitini, since it was included with our stay.

Lunch in Italy is usually the biggest meal of the day and is such an event that most businesses, including gas stations are closed from 12 to 2 pm, an observance that can be slightly frustrating when you're on the road and really need to get gas during those hours. When planning to eat out, you definitely want to arrive early, as the seats fill up fast. The lunch menu could include anything from soup to sandwiches, to full-dinner meals, depending on where you stop. Also, there are several common denominators when eating either lunch or dinner. Meals are divided into five courses: antipasti (appetizer), primi (first course, usually pasta, and sometimes filling enough to just stop there), secondi (usually meat, and only meat, so you have to order contorni - "side dish" separately), insalate (salad unlike anything in the US; very creative and very good), and your choice of either formaggi (cheese), or dolci (dessert; usually gelato, panna cotta - "cooked cream", or tiramisu).

Our favorite lunch trattoria (loosely translated to, a-more-casual-place-to-eat) was, hands down, Trattoria Mario, which we regrettably only frequented once during our stay. Mario's was so popular that we had to put our names on a list just to get in the door. Once in, we were seated, elbow-to-elbow with other diners on floor-level stools at a crowded, nondescript table. I had a wonderful pasta and beef-based soup that I, very unfortunately can't remember the name of. It may have been ribollita, but I'm not really sure. Faith had linguini with meat sauce, and the kids shared an order of plain spaghetti with pomodoro (tomato) sauce, plus a large plate of bruschetta with fresh tomatoes and mozzarella.

Another popular stop for lunch are the countless portable lunch trailers set up around the city. One afternoon, at the Sunday flea market, we ate lampredotto, which is boiled, sliced cow's stomach in a sandwich. Definitely a Tuscan specialty and definitely a unique flavor. I wouldn't make it a routine, but it actually wasn't too bad.





Lampredotto (boiled cow's stomach).


Stopping for a quick, curb-side snack.



Lunch-time entertainment at the Nerbone, in Mercato Centrale.

Dinner hours are generally between 8 and 10 pm and most restaurants don't even open their doors before 7:30 pm. Our three definite favorites were Quattro Leoni, Sabatino, and Il Latini.

We liked Quattro Leoni so much that we ate there twice. The restaurant is located in a quiet little quarter on the north side of the Arno River, about a 20 minute walk (at the speed of little legs) from our hotel. The staff were always extremely genial and the overall atmosphere was very up-beat with just the right volume level for a family of three little kids to fit right in. Our favorite meal there was fiocchetti - "little purses" of pasta, filled with pear, finely cut asparagus, and taleggio cheese. These wonderful little pasta purses were one of the best things I've ever put in my mouth. Truly a leaping-through-fields-of-alpine-flowers, experience, if you know what I mean. We also ordered bistecca alla fiorentina (very rare-cooked, t-bone steak), a Florentine specialty, grilled over charcoal with salt, olive oil and rosemary. We also had a superb dessert wine, which has now become one of our favorites, moscato di pantelleria.



Fiocchetti "little purses" - best meal in Florence!

Upon our first steps into Sabatino, we realized that this was definitely a place frequented only by local Florentines. I would almost compare it to an American diner, but with much better food. The food there was all very good and the atmosphere quite...well interesting. Because Florence is such a market-focused city, there are always hawkers around nearly every corner, trying to sell their wares, to include selling items inside some local restaurants like Sabatino's. I'm sure it gets old very fast with the locals, but we just thought it was rather humorous. Throughout our entire meal we were approached by a man selling roses, another selling pirated CDs, and another selling literal flashing sunglasses. I'll have to admit, the vivid, Christmas-tree-light, flashing sun glasses were tempting, and they would have gone so well with wide-collared leather, but I couldn't talk the guy down to my asking price of 5 Euro cents. So anyway, to top off the entire experience, as we were leaving the restaurant, Faith snapped this picture of the three of us. Just as she was about to take the picture, this random guy walked out the door and, without skipping a beat, made himself welcome as a part of the frame. He then jovially took the camera and snapped one of the few shots of us all together as a family in Florence. We laughed about it all the way home.




Our final favorite restaurant, Il Latini, is so popular that you can't even make over-the-phone reservations. They open for dinner at 7:30 pm and if you're not waiting in line on the side walk by 7, you most likely will not get in the door. Because they're so popular, the kitchen generally has a few specialties that they they suggest you order; more like eating over at a friend's house for dinner. Menus are available, but it's best if you just order what the waiter suggests, it's just easier that way. Every table was supplied with a large, traditionally straw-wrapped, bottle of house Chianti and a bottle of house olive oil, which was so good, we decided to buy a few to take home. One interesting anecdote is that dinner wine is served in, what we would consider, small juice glasses as opposed to the normal, wide-mouthed red-wine goblets. Dessert wine, however, is served in narrow, slightly more elegant, white wine glasses. And speaking of wine, we had the best moscato of our entire trip, at Il Latini. I would go so far to say that it was the best wine I've ever had, world-wide; which is saying a lot, since I'm not really much of a wine lover. The wine was Romano Dogliotti La Caudrina Moscato D'Asti, and was the smoothest, sweetest white wine the both of us have ever had. It was almost like drinking sparkling grape juice. Anyway, we started with a plate of crostini liver pate and fresh bruschetta. For the main course I ordered a superb roast rabbit, Faith had an outstanding pork chop, and the kids devoured heaping plates of linguini and fagioli (white beans).



Waiting in line, in front of Il Latini.


Traditional, straw-wrapped Chianti.



Liver pate on crostini.



Bruschetta.


Roast rabbit.


Moscato with biscotti.


We would definitely go back to Florence, for no other reason than to eat the food; it was that good. For these and (many) more photos of the food (as well as descriptions of it all), check our our set on flickr: Eating Italian

Click here for Emily Wise Miller's blog: A Food Lover In Florence

Tomorrow: we go to the monthly flea market at Piazza Santo Spirito.

Italy Part 4: Rock Show In Prato

While in Firenze, not everything we did was historical or touristy in nature. I had planned on seeing two bands play in Germany, the day after we got back from Italy. But, as it turned out, they were also passing through Prato, only 30 minutes outside Firenze, so I saw them there instead. The show was Beneath The Massacre, Despised Icon and Misery Index, and was in a spacious, underground club, underneath a “disco-pub”. I didn’t stick around for Misery Index because I’ve seen them play before and I’m not much of a fan. The other two bands were, of course, outstanding, so I included a few of the pictures I took.

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Italy Part 3: Ponte Vecchio

The Ponte Vecchio (translated "Old Bridge"), is Florence's oldest bridge.  During WWII when Hitler retreated Florence in 1944, he destroyed all of the city's bridges except this one, supposedly because of it's beauty (not that it stopped him from destroying plenty of other beautiful people and things, but that would be for another blog post).  The bridge has jewelry shops built into either side of it lining the road, so as you are walking across it, you hardly realize that you are actually over water. 



At a point in the center is a place between buildings where you can stop to admire the view, and is a popular spot for tourists to snap photos.






According to our Florence guide book, the bridge used to house the shops of blacksmiths, butchers and tanners, but in 1593 a member of the Medici family (hugely powerful family who basically ran Florence during the Italian Renaissance) became annoyed at the stench and noise every time he had to cross the bridge.  He cleared out all of the "dirtiness", and moved jewelers and goldsmiths into the shops instead.  According to tradition, only jewelers and goldsmiths occupy these spaces to this day.





Ponte Vecchio


For all of these and more photos, go to the photo set: Ponte Vecchio.

Next post: A rock and roll show in Prato.

Italy Part 2: Mercato Centrale

The Mercato Centrale is an indoor market in the heart of the city (as the name might suggest), packed with fresh produce, cheese, meat (with no part of the animals wasted!), fish, pasta, olive oils and more.  Not only a useful stop to pick up something to make for dinner (or eat right there at Nerbone (a lunch stall/counter), but also good for entertainment value. 

Entire pigs heads stare from behind glass, extensive selections of dried beans stretch out in seemingly endless bins, whole prosciuttos hang in clusters from the ceiling, and wheels of cheese are stacked deep and wide.

 The place is teeming with people -- not only tourists, like the rest of the city, but also with native Florentines, doing their daily shopping, catching up on gossip or gathering for lunch.  The entirety of the building seems to be a celebration of all things deliciously fresh and good to eat in Florence.

























They appear to be ready for lunch, no?


Check out the Mercato Centrale photoset to see what we ate for lunch, more interesting animal parts (beef cheek, anyone?), and other highlights of our two visits to the market.

Next post: The Ponte Vecchio

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