Erstfeld

We woke up early and had breakfast and got onto the coach heading towards Italy. It was quite a long drive; I slept most of the way, and Paul stayed up. The first stop was in Pisa with a guided tour of the town and, of course, The Leaning Tower. Our guide, Laura, explained the Tuscany Region, which includes Florence, Pisa, Luca and Sienna. She then took us into the main square, which includes the Duomo Cathedral, the Babtistry (which still does Babtisms to this day and at which Galileo was baptised), an elite cemetary (where people are still buried to this day!) and the Leaning Tower of Pisa. The architecture is very beautiful and ornate. We got to go inside the Duomo, in which we learned that a long time ago, a fire had started in the ceiling and the whole roof collapsed, taking down several original frescos (huge wall paintings) with it. The ceiling was rebulit using wood and covered in 24k gold (plated) leaf. All of the original frescos have been replaced by large oil paintings on the walls. Only part of one of the original frescos remains in the Cathedral. Also inside the Cathedral is a very detailed alter made by Giovanni Pizzano, in which the whole top is made of one giant piece of marble with people carved into. It is so intricate! There is also a sarcophagus (fancy burial site) of Saint Ranieri in the Duomo. People still go there to pray and light candles in his honor. We then saw the amazing and beautiful site of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. We learned about its history, including that it was built and designed in different time periods and styles; each tier unique in its own way. We also learned that the Leaning Tower of Pisa is actually a bell tower that contains 7 bells inside. It was once used as a "giant musical instrument," as our guide explained, using all 7 bells. Today, the bell tower still rings, but only one time a week on Sundays and using only one bell. This is because if all the bells rang at the same time, it might destroy the tower! We them had some free time to take ridiculous pictures of ourselves "pushing" and "holding" the tower. It was definitely a thing to do there; everyone was doing the same thing! We also walked along the side streets in the square, which had shops and restaurants. We found a small, unique shoe store that caught our eye, and we decided to "just have a look." They had such nice, real, Tuscany-made leather shoes. We spoke to the store clerk who told us that this is his family's store which has been running for 3 generations with a leather factory right outside of Luca in Tuscany (about 40 minutes from Pisa). He explained the different types of leather that are used (in his particular store, calf and buffalo), the different quality and authenticity of the leather and the ability of leather to stretch and mold to your foot. Paul was sold, having already wanted to purchase a pair of loafers for some time and splurged on a pair of beautiful light brown loafers. We probably could have stayed and each bought 3 pairs of shoes there, but we were on a time crunch to meet up with our group again. We then headed back to the coach for our last stretch of driving for today, heading to Florence. There, we checked into the hotel and went to an included dinner at the hotel.Read more