Guess where I am?

Yes that’s right I’m in Pisa and the picture is of the famous Leaning Tower. I am here because Hugh had to give a talk in London and Pisa is the nearest airport to us – however it is in the North of Tuscany about 2 and a half hours away. I didn’t fancy driving down and back again the next day to pick him up so I decided to stay overnight in an airport hotel and see Pisa. It is very spectacular and even with sunglasses the glare from the white buildings, the blue sky and the green grass is amazing. Pisa like Florence is situated on the river Arno but the Piazza dei Miracoli as it is known, is built right by the town walls to the north-west of the main city as apparently in Etruscan and Roman times there was another river nearby.

The Cathedral, baptistery, bell-tower (the leaning tower) and cemetery complex are just the most beautiful buildings I think I have ever seen - certainly up there with the Pantheon (Rome) and Santa Sophia (Istanbul) and the Temple of Heaven (Beijing), my other favourite buildings in the world. I very bravely (again) faced my fears and climbed the tower – it is very odd climbing a spiral staircase with a bad lean I must say. The marble stairs are worn in a very strange way on one side, definitely not in the middle. The view is wonderful from the top.

I felt quite young and sprightly compared to the other older, even fatter tourists climbing the Tower which is a nice change! I am still working on my theory as to why Anglo-Saxon cultures seem to be much fatter than Europeans – can it really be just the smoking? The food here is delicious – nice pizza, wonderful gelati and many glases of prosecco – so much for my vow of abstinence or was it chastity? However the locals all eat away like this too but they are all slim. I am baffled.

We have had internet trouble that is why this is a bit late but all is fixed now. Ciao!