LIVORNO AND PISA: As we awoke this morning, Voyager was entering the harbor at Livorno. From the port we took an 8:30 AM coach ride to the city of Pisa. After a short walk through narrow streets, we came to a large wall that seemed to go on forever. We walked along the sidewalk for at least 5 minutes to an opening in the wall. Upon going through the opening, we entered the outer area of the Piazza del Duomo (Cathedral Square), also known as the Piazza dei Miracoli (Square of Miracles). As we moved along the road, we turned a corner and suddenly came to the actual Piazza and there it was, The Leaning Tower of Pisa. It is most impressive and so much larger "in person" than I had expected. The tower is actually the free-standing bell tower for the adjacent Duomo (a church, which is named for St. Mary of the Assumption). Past the tower and church is a large open lawn that leads to, and surrounds the Baptistery, an enormous free-standing domed structure, named in honor of St. John the Baptist. We did not try to go up the tower, but did all the normal tourist things, including taking photos of each other "holding up the tower" so it would not fall over. Of all the places and things we saw in Italy, the Leaning Tower was the one that made the biggest impression on me. I took lots of photos of the detail work on the tower, church and Baptistery, which were all amazing. There was also a statue of Romulus and Remus with their wolf mother, commemorating them as the founders of Rome. We window shopped for a while in booths along the side of the lawn area of the Piazza, then met up with our group at a restaurant where we were given water, a chance to use restrooms, and wait for the rest of the group to gather so we could walk back to the coach. Back in the coach, we returned to the ship for an afternoon of doing nothing but relaxing until it was time for dinner.
Videos are of Livorno at dawn; the Piazza del Duomo; and leaving Livorno in the evening.
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