-=Save the Croissants=-: Pisa

Sunday, February 10, 2013

Pisa

Pisa is a lovely little college town in Italy, with a river and a hat shop and about as many little art supply stores as you would like, none of which sold my malfunctioning mechanical pencil.

{It’s very difficult to get a Parker Jotter mechanical pencil overseas. Everywhere had the pen version, but whatever.} Pisa is not a small town, {You couldn’t amble the perimeter in a day, for example} but it wasn’t as big as Florence. We did everything in an easy day trip, and walked across almost the full diameter of the town just to get from the train station to the tower.

There’s a lot more in town than the tower, {or Torre Pendente as the signs will tell you} there’s even a lot more RIGHT NEXT to the tower than you’re expecting, including dad’s favourite church.

Oh, before we start a word of advice to other pin buyers such as myself in the past: There are a lot of cool pins in Pisa, but don’t buy them from the little tourist shop next to the tower.

Buy them from the street vendor guy on the way back to the train station, they’re about $1.30 cheaper per for the exact same thing.

Learned THAT the hard way.

I don’t know who this is, but he’s got an awesome hat and a sword, so obviously he was d*mn lucky.

See: Yesterday’s Bonus Post: http://stcroiss.blogspot.com/2013/02/bonus-pins.html

At first blush this may look like a picture of Dad, but it’s REALLY a picture of the old guy in a fedora behind him.

Italian Vignette: Stereotypical Scenes Abound

This is like a little church between the road and the river?

Detail: My favourite kind of window.

Dad admiring a mysteriously placed church deal.

Scene: Seriously Italy, are you doing this on purpose?

Detail: People in funny hats to the right.

Detail: Yellow lettuce with purple spots.

Detail: Fractal spiral vegetable.

Artichokes: 5 for $4.

This was some kind of college, when I asked at the desk the lady who only spoke italian said it was a letter college? They award letters?

The Leaning Tower of Pisa, inspiring people since the past to never admit their mistakes, because if they just power through ignoring facts and fail big enough their mistake just might become a national monument and bring in the big tourist dollars.

And we’re at the top.

The people of Pisa just wanted a bell tower, really. They weren’t planning on “Hilarious National Monument” But it IS what they ended up with.

Detail: Bell, 1890.

Detail: They didn’t really think through the whole “clapper” situation.

Detail: Rusty Angel.

Landscape: Pisa

This is the church that is right next to the torre that no one ever mentions or seems to know about.

Detail: This is how much the tower is crooked.

Not really a lot, enough to mess with your inner ear.

Awww. LOOKIT HIS FACE.

And now we’re in the cathedral next door.

Panorama: “Hey Dad! Take a panorama with your phone and put it on your facebook!”

*Glare* “You know darn well I only have an iPhone 4.”

I’m not sure what’s going on here or even what this thing is, but it was very orante and no part of it matched any other part of it.

You know that old ‘Light a candle and say a prayer’ thing?

Well, they’re electric now.

If there’s one thing the catholics do really well, it’s giant imposing architecture.

Included: Dad, for scale.

And ceilings, they do a nice ceiling.

Detail: Columns.

Diptych: Stain’d glasses. On the Right; Adam and Eve. On the left; Stoking a fire? Digging a hole inside a gold box? Look, I never read the bible. None of this makes any sense to me.