My Italian school arranged an afternoon tour of Pisa. There were only three of us on the tour, a German guy, a Swiss woman, and me. Our guide spoke Italian. Lots of interesting stuff…
One thing I hadn’t known is that it was a Polish architect/engineer who finally figured out what was wrong with the tower. It’s not that it’s sinking but that the upper side is constantly pushing upwards due to too much water in that part of the monument grounds. OMG, who knew?! They have done much to address this and apparently it’s guaranteed for two hundred years.
We went up into the baptistry, which is the largest in Europe, and I got a good shot right across to the cathedral, right through the chain link on the window.
We wandered town in the rain, and I got a few decent shots. This is in the Piazza dei Cavalieri.
Last week, the tour was to Pietrasanta. I met the group at the train station and we walked around town. I learned that many artists, many of whom I know, have one or two maquettes (small plaster models of their larger marble sculptures) upstairs in the public library. Here’s a relatively large maquette by my neighbor, Maria Gamundi.
Finally, a leftover photo from my visit to Todi. The town projected a set of religious paintings against the cathedral. Here’s one of the best ones.
