All Work and No Play...

It does make Erik a dull boy, but of course we are trying to avoid that. On the upside, this morning we woke up to something we had not yet experienced in Rome -- a cloudy, rainy morning! Its amazing how low the temperature is right now. I have yet to turn on the fan next to my desk, which is normally the first thing I do when I get to studio.

Speaking of studio and speaking of medieval towers (which I did last time) I thought I would briefly introduce you to my studio:

In the background of the first picture you'll see a stone wall. This once was part of a medieval family tower. One of the most amazing things we're discovering about Rome is the layering that happens over time. Quite often, things are discovered below other things, when in fact no one really knew they were there. This wall was discovered below layers of plaster and wood, and was restored when the University bought the building. They upgraded the heavy timbers in the ceiling with steel trusses (2nd pic) and re-tiled the floor, etc. It gets hot but it sure is pretty to look at.

We have been working hard in studio over the last couple of days. Carin and I are planning a trip to Florence this weekend and I have a review next Tuesday, so I've tried to put in extra time to get things done before we leave. However, I did promise you a spiel on Pisa, so here it is.

Pisa
So, way back ago Sunday you'll rememberg Carin and I left Lucca on a train to Pisa, another wonderful Tuscan town. Perhaps you have heard of their tower.

Of course, Pisa is about more than the leaning tower (although, not much more ;-)) Pisa is another walled medieval city, although their wall is somewhat less intact. One of the best places to see what the wall used to look like is entering the area around the city's main cathedral, where the leaning (bell) tower is also located.

Since we arrived late afternoon on Sunday, we spent a little time checking the city out, got something to eat, and proceeded to head right to the area near the cathedral and tower. We visited the cathedral together on Sunday and on Monday morning I got an appointment to climb the leaning tower!

The 4 main components of this area are the cathedral, the bell tower, the babtistry and a mausoleum. The pic above is of the cathedral, photomontaged, with a shadow of the leaning tower on the left side of the pic. The cathedral was absolutely stunning inside. It was the largest church I have visited so far in Italy (that will change when I go to St. Peter's one of these days). Here are some interior shots.

We decided on Monday I would climb the tower solo. The famed Leaning Tower of Pisa is actually the bell tower for the cathedral and finished construction in something like 1173. The ground near the cathedral is very soft, having formerly been a marsh. In fact, the cathedral, baptistry and mausoleum also "lean", but it is of course more obvious in the tower. The tower didn't all lean at the same time...it in fact it started leaning almost as soon as they started building it. They decided to continue construction, but give it a slight "banana" shape to help straighten it. This is really imperceptable to the naked eye unless you get exactly the right perspective.

The climb up the 300 stairs was long but it was definitely worth it. As you climb the tower, you can actually pretty obviousely experience the fact that its leaning through shifting perspectives in the narrow, long stairwell. Not for the clausterphobic, but a lot of fun. The tower is capped with 7 bells of various shapes and sizes. The limit the amount they actually ring them to only once a week to minimize the amount of vibration going into the building. My mom is a huge bell lover and I was thinking of her the entire time when I got to the top!

We had a great time in Pisa, found the best food we've had so far in Italy, and just in general enjoyed a weekend away. I'll leave you with a shot of the babtistry and one of the big bells. Ciao!