As planned, I made my stop-off in Pisa today. The Pisa train station has a 'left luggage' service so I stowed my bag for 3 euro (they take a copy of your passport to do this), consulted a map posted outside the train station, and walked the mile or so to the leaning tower. Predictably, it was swarming with tourists, most of them taking turns posing with mime-hands to get photos of themselves looking like they are pushing the tower back upright. I considered asking someone to take my photo like this, but decided against it, opting to retain this one grain of dignity.
But I'm glad I took this detour. Leaving aside that it is substantially akimbo, the tower is beautiful. And I had been clueless about the fact that the tower is adjacent to a gorgeous cathedral and – you guessed it – another impressive duomo. I walked the grounds and snapped the tower from every angle, but I did not climb it or the duomo. Frankly, I've reached a point of duomo-fatigue. Also, I was toting around my backpack which was heavy and bulky, and I imagined myself getting wedged in one of those narrow stairways. I did go inside the cathedral, but didn't linger since Sunday services were in progress. Somehow, it didn't feel right that they were parading us tourists through the back of the sanctuary while prayers were being said in the front.
Afterward, I stopped for lunch, rescued my luggage and got back on the train. See the few photos I took from the train of blocks of Carrara marble sitting along the railway tracks awaiting transport. I also tried to capture the dramatic cliffs of the distant marble quarry, but they're hard to see in the photos.
I arrived in Monterosso around 3pm. The weather and ocean are beautiful and I waded into the surf, happy to discover that it's not very cold. I'll spend the next few days hiking the trails of Cinque Terre and sitting on the tiny beach with my book. Now THAT's a vacation!
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