Catching Up...Pisa, Florence, Siena and Coming Home

Seven weeks in Europe means I'll be blogging about it for at least seven weeks after! Ahhhhh!  So some of my posts are going to be quick and without a lot of details so in others I can give you all the gory details.  This will be one of the shorter ones in case your attention span is short today...you can continue reading.  

So, here I am in front of the Leaning Tower of Pisa.  It is actually pretty cool because it is leaning pretty bad and is also pretty dang old (was started before 1200).  And one thing I didn't know before, was that it isn't like the tower has gradually been leaning a little more every year for the last 800 years...the tower was pretty much a disaster from the first and throughout those 800 years there have been several attempts to fix it or at least stop it from leaning more.  

And pretty much EVERYONE who is at the leaning tower takes a picture like this or some variation of this...

I wasn't going to take one of these pictures because I am the anti-tourist tourist in a lot of ways, but the girl taking my picture really thought I should take the whole "pushing up the leaning tower" picture, so I did.  

The other buildings (religious ones) that are on the same grounds as the Leaning Tower are also very beautiful.  I guess they actually chose good stone to build with and not the type that gets all black and nasty like some churches are built with.  So, I guess they weren't the best at choosing building locations but maybe okay with choosing building materials. 

I climbed the Leaning Tower.  It was pretty cool.  You can really feel how much the building is leaning when you climb up the stairs because you get pushed one way or the other by the lean.  There was a good view from the top of the city of Pisa but really other than the Leaning Tower and surrounding buildings, Pisa is pretty much a piece-a crap...not much else to see or do there.  

I decided to climb it now because probably when I am older and come back to Pisa again:

1) I will not want to climb it,

2) I will have bad knees or a heart condition or be in a Jazzy or something,

3) The tower will have collapsed,

4) The tower will lean even more and will be unsafe for climbing,

5) or, They just won't let you climb it anymore because there are too many people in the world who want to climb it and it is getting ruined.  

So, I did it now...you never know about the future.

In conclusion the lesson learned here is that if you build a building poorly but it is beautiful, it may become famous and make your town rich forever.  

Here I am in Florence...

And here's a picture of Siena...I guess I didn't get any pictures of me in Siena.

I guess Florence and Siena aren't that bad.  I just had such high expectations for them that they disappointed me a bit.  However, I REALLY liked Rome after all and I had low expectations for Rome.  So, maybe the lesson learned here is to have low expectations so you won't be disappointed...AIM LOW AND ACHIEVE!  But Florence and Siena had better food than what I've found in Rome...and cheaper too.  


Well, it's back to the good old United States tomorrow.  About a week and a half ago I actually wanted to stay longer...I even tried to change my plane ticket.  But, now that the time has come I think I'm glad to be going home, because:


#1: I miss this little muchacho and am really hoping he hasn't gotten to that annoying age where he hates everyone but his mom and dad.  

I'm hoping that he'll still like me, and am thinking that he will.  And of course I miss everyone else but older people don't change that fast...this little guy has gone from three months old to five months old in the time I've been away.  


#2: I'm getting low on deodorant and don't know if they sell it here.


#3: I'm out of face powder and so my face is gross and greasy in all my pictures.


#4:  I'm tired.


#5: I should probably look for a job before I run COMPLETELY out of money.


#6: If I stay any longer I may be found face down in a vat of gelato, dead from diabetic shock...and, although that wouldn't be the worst way to go, I'm still young and have things to do and should try not to die of gelato intoxication.


#7: I need to get home and get some Nicorette to help me overcome the second-hand tobacco addiction Europe has given me.  


#8: I want to be home for my cousin Alison's wedding on Saturday...so excited for her...and I want to get home for the 4th of July...I love the 4th of July!


#9: I need a haircut really bad...seven weeks is the MAX I can go between haircuts...it really controls my life because I can't go anywhere for longer than seven weeks!  And for those of you who are saying "why not just get your hair cut while you're on vacation?" have OBVIOUSLY never had a haircut in a foreign country!


Well, that's all I can think of.  It would have been nice if I could have rounded out the list with a number 10 of why I'm glad to be going home but I'm too tired right now to think of anything more.  Oh yeah,


#10: My bed.  I miss my lovely bed.


So this post didn't turn out being too short after all.  I'm not so good at short...I like wordy.  Sorry!


See you all soon!!!!!!!!!!!! (unless I don't know you and then I won't see you soon)