Lucca, the Italian Sayville

After Pisa, we boarded the bus again and went to Lucca.  The city still lies within the ancient medieval walls and is actually rather small.  Once we were inside, it was very reminiscent of home - Spring had finally come, people were outside walking dogs (or kids, as the case may be), and it was ultimately a very lively city.  Plus, whereas Sayville is in a metaphorical bubble, Lucca actually has walls to back up the concept.  Much of my time there was spent just walking around and enjoying the atmosphere.

Oh, and the bus had all of it's gas siphoned out, so while waiting we all went on a carousel in the main city square.  There was an ostrich.

Pisa; or, How My Opinion of People Somehow Sunk Lower

My school thought it would be a good idea to go to the world's biggest tourist trap.  As we got swarmed by 15 guys selling cheap sunglasses when we got off the bus, I started to question their logic.

It's really depressing actually, almost the whole town is a touristy area.  No one cares about the amazing university or hospital there that lead the region, it's all about the tower.

Il Duomo

The Baptistry

The Leaning Tower

Piazza dei Miracoli

Note my integrity

The square, Piazza dei Miracoli, is a world heritage site, and what no one tells you is that the whole square is tilted in different directions.  That's because the square was built on a dried riverbed, and so parts are sinking into what was the river; thing is, the tower leans most dramatically.  As the tour guide said, the area was very much about the circle of life: for your birth there was the baptistry, for your life there was the cathedral, for problems like illness there was the hospital, and for bigger problems there was the Camposanto Cemetery (left).

There is a legend about this cathedral about the columns.  Most were stolen from earlier monuments, and in the front facade there is one red column on the second row, fourth from the right.  Legend has it that if you look at that column for sixty seconds, your significant other or your spouse with be faithful to you for twenty-four hours; apparently in Italy this is a much needed divine gift.

Duomo Interior

Duomo Apse

Judgement

Bronze Doors

Another legend about this church is that Satan wasn't particularly pleased about the expansion of the church, both physically (the Duomo was expanding) and theologically.  To combat these, he was said to have taken it upon himself to remove marble blocks from the structure.  With that in mind, we have the Devil's Nails.  The thing is that no matter how many times you count the marks, you never get the same number.  This is why there is a crowd of guys physically counting.

The funny thing about the Leaning Tower of Pisa is that it leans in a few different directions.  After the first few floors were built and it started sinking, a second architect a hundred years later started building at a different angle to try and right the tower.  A third architect added the last floor with the actual bells, which is the closest to being straight of any of them.  They prevented it from leaning further by filling the riverbed beneath it with cement.

I will not lean!

Arguably the best part of Pisa however is taking pictures of people "leaning".

She was actually trying to hug the tower from what I understand

Florence

As a way of congratulating us for surviving midterm exams, St. John's had a free trip over the weekend of March 22nd to Florence with day trips to surrounding cities.  The first day was spent in a walking tour around Florence.

This is the Basilica of San Lorenzo, which was built under Michelangelo.  The facade was never completed because Michelangelo was called to Rome for some Papal work and he died before he could return.  He happened to do this to a lot of his works because he was under the impression he would never die and so had all the time in the world.  Florentine officials have yet to cover the rough bricks in respect to Michelangelo's narcissism.

From there we went to the Duomo.  There's an ancient piece of Florentine law that says that nothing can be taller than the Cathedral, and so it can be seen from any point in the city.  It was for the longest time the tallest in the world, and the three colors of white, green, and pink are supposed to represent purity, hope, and charity.  The bell tower (Giotto) was named for the first architect who died three years in.

The Baptistry has two doors on the north and south sides for the unbaptized to enter through, and the golden door facing the east and the Church for those who have become officially Christian.  Originally they only baptized twice a year - once for boys and once for girls - through use of rain water caught from the ceiling and kept in a fountain.  To be baptized one had to be fully immersed three times in the fountain if they were a baby, while adults needed to say "Io credo!" (I believe!) three times in between having their head dunked in the rain water.

Inside the Dome

Piazza della Repubblica from Afar

The Loggia del Mercato Nuovo, an ancient market also known as the Pig Market.  The stalls here sell the famous Florentine leather and paper, and is the site of the Trevi Fountain of Florence.

The Trevi Fountain of Florence is indeed a boar.  What really made the Renaissance such a change in Europe was that it involved a lot of rediscovery of Greek myths, and apparently the Renaissance Florentines really took to the myth of the Calydonian Boar.  It's snout is well worn because if you rub it you will return to Florence, like how if you toss three coins in the Trevi Fountain you will return to Rome.  You can also put a coin in it's mouth and try to get it to fall in the grate below for good luck; it's actually quite difficult.

The Arno River

The Ponte Vecchio (Old Bridge) is aptly named, as it's the only original bridge left after WWII bombing raids.  The only reason it was spared was because there is a passageway on the bridge - you can see it, the space above the yellow colonnade on the left of the picture - that was originally used to the Medici could get from work to home without mingling among the commoners.  Hitler loved the concept to much that he spared the bridge.

The Arno Riviera

Ponte Vecchio from the Shore

We finished our tour at the Palazzo Vecchio, which has served as the city hall from Florence since Medieval times.  If you saw the movie Hannibal, this was the balcony from where he hung Detective Pazzi.  This was a reference to how in 1478 the Pazzi family tried to eliminate the ruling Medici family from Firenze by attacking the two Medici men outside the Duomo.  They were unsuccessful however, and the surviving member of the assassination attempt, Lorenzo the Magnificent, repaid the favor by rounding up all the Pazzi men and hanging them from the crenelations of the palace.

Speaking of the Medici, there is an interesting story regarding this plaza and their rule.  The Medici were bankers yes, but they began as wool traders, eventually gaining enough capital to become bankers.  From there they began inserting friends into the artisan-run government until they simply took over the whole city.  When this happened, the original David by Michelangelo stood outside the town hall.  Being shrewd
politicians, the Medici didn't move the statue (which was a symbol of Italian independence and freedom) and instead flooded the square with statues.  Today, there stands a replica of David, a statue of Hercules (which is so malproportioned musculature that the Italians refer to it as a bag of oranges), a statue of Perseus slaying Medusa, Cosimo Medici on a horse, a fountain with Neptune that has the face of Cosimo, and a whole walkway (loggia) full of just statues.  When you're a banker you have a lot of money you see.

Loggia della Signoria

The Arno

Ultimately I found it to be a beautiful city, but it couldn't compare to what was ahead in the next few days: Pisa, Lucca, and Siena.