Early last Saturday morning we left Rome and headed north via the train up the coast of Italy...
It was hard to believe that we were looking out at the Mediterranean Sea...
This is a beautiful resort area...
We got off at the station in Pisa and took a bus to the Leaning Tower of Pisa...
On the way we crossed over the Arno River via the bridge "Ponte Solferino". Located here is a tiny Gothic white marble church called the Church of Santa Maria della Spina.
This amazing building is the baptistry...
The three buildings were beautiful...glistening white in the sunshine....
The ornate stonework and marble is so intricate it appears almost delicate....
The Leaning Tower of Pisa is the free standing bell tower of the Cathedral of Pisa...it began to lean soon after the onset of construction in 1173.
We had enough time to visit the museum and saw many beautiful and wonderful antiquities, works of art and religious artifacts.
Look at those toes!
This is part of an ancient tapestry...exquisite!
Outside, street vendors sold souvenirs, Murano glass jewelry and beautiful leather bags...
My sister Lynn had a gorgeous purse picked out but the current exchange rate made guilt free shopping almost impossible.
This photograph was taken inside the baptistry....
The acoustics are amazing...
The Cathedral is a masterpiece of Romanesque - Pisa Style and was started in the year 1063 by the great architect Buschetto.
After just a few hours, we took the bus back to the station to catch the train to Lucca where we had accommodations for the night and where we would get to meet our blogging friends Vale and Paola of Les Cotrions.
Tomorrow I will share with you our meeting and how we spent our time in the ancient walled city of Lucca....
Until then....Buonasera!
:) Laura
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