And then we went to Pisa

Yesterday our group traveled by train all the way to the iconic city of Pisa. Pisa, which is close to the Arno as well, is slowly sinking due to the silty sandy earth that the city is built on (hence the leaning of its most famous tower.) Modern technology has allowed the city to stabilize, but the tower was in danger of falling at the beginning of the century. In fact, as they were building the tower, they knew it was sinking and they tried to even it out.
We were not there to see the tower though. Once again, we toured the Cathedral of the city and the Baptistery both of which were pretty but in my mind, not nearly as pretty as the Baptistery here in Florence or the Cathedral in Sienna.
The inside of the Baptistery was quiet plane in comparison with the others we have toured, yet the baptismal font was still in the center of the building. It was a huge octagonal font contrasting with the circular building. The Baptistery also had an intricately carved pulpit which we ended up comparing to the pulpit in the Cathedral. Both pulpits depicted scenes of the life of Christ but in different ways. The pulpit in the Cathedral was much more interact in design with Atlantids and Carotids for pillars rather than just plane columns.
After our tours of the Baptistery and the Cathedral we toured the Campo Santo, a open air building that housed many tombs of multiple important and influential people in Pisa's history. Soil from the holy land was imported into the garden area, so that those laid to rest, were in fact laying on holy ground. It had frescoed walls from the 14th century that were accidentally damaged during the second world war, yet many were able to be restored.
After the tours, we were set free on the city with train tickets to return on our own and the flexibility to stop where we wanted on the way home. I spent the afternoon with Anicka and Megan. The three of us stumbled apon a lovely sandwich shop (where we had some of the best sandwiches of our lives) for lunch. The bread was absolutely fantastic.  It was fresh and with a good crust. My sandwich had thinly sliced turkey, tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with oregano. After lunch, the three of us stumbled on a fairy tale wedding, took some cheesy tourist pictures and then caught a train to Luca, a stop Jodi recommended to us.
Jodi wasn't really clear as to why any of us should stop in Luca, so Anicka, Megan and I stepped off the train and proceeded to explore the city on our own. We were not disappointed as we discovered a walled of area with lots of grass and trees that one could hike up through to over look the city. We also stumbled across a very impressive gymnastic competition which we stood and watched a while before catching a late train home to Florence making it home in time for supper. All around it was a busy day, but we got to see one  the most iconic cities in all of Italy. I can officially strike the leaning tower of Pisa off my bucket list!