This is the End (Of Florence)

Yesterday, we went to Pisa. The first thing I learned is that the town is not spelled with a “z.” The second is that Pisa is a university town housing one of the best technical schools in all of Italy, so I have new ideas for study abroad…

We met our guide at the train station and were given a small tour of the quaint-ish town with its single main street and small little shops, that is of course until we crossed the river into the tourist district where their architecturally unsound tower is located. Coming out from a typically crowded Italian street the world seems to open up into this magnificent courtyard with the tower, church, and baptistry. These three structures were all designed around the same time to create one of the most beautiful areas in all of Italy. Problem was they didn't factor in underground water sources. Not only does the tower tilt, but a slight dip is also noticeable in the front of the church AND the baptistry. No building is safe from the wrath of mother earth. But perhaps the best part is they realized the tilt of the tower before construction was completed, so they actually tried to correct it! The end result being that the top of the tower tilts in the opposite direction making it more the banana tower of Pisa.

Everything is done in marble, and on this beautiful day it hurt to even look in the buildings' direction! We quickly scurried into the baptistry with perhaps the best sound engineering this side of an Opera hall, and then into the church before climbing that which cannot stand straight. Apparently most people have to wait in a massive line to climb the leaning tower of Pisa but thanks to advance reservations we were up and climbing in minutes. The stairs were a bit off and disconcerting but the view at the top was fantastic! (Don't worry, I got pictures; including typical tourist-y ones trying to hold the tower up.) After all that we headed to this awesome museum on the history of computing devices starting with mechanical contraptions from the early 1900s that were far more accurate than the first vacuum-tube computers. The only thing these early model computers had on calculators was speed. Probably the coolest exhibit was this detailed history on personal computers with such devices lost in history such as the Apple II and Commadore 64. I even got to try out some “ancient” computer games on the latter, and got my name on the high-score list. So, kind of a big deal.There was a big focus on Olivetti at the museum too, an Italian computer manufacturer responsible for the first desktop computer and for creating magnetic strip memory, the precursor to the floppy disk.

We had to run to the train station after that, since very few trains were running during the railroad strike, but we made it in the nick of time.

Today was a big day for walking. We started bright and early with a trip up the Duomo to probably one of the most fantastic views of the city of Florence. The only requirement for entry being the decrepit 500 year-old staircase to the tippy top. Well worth the hike, especially the part that runs around the inside of the church giving a view at this massive painting representing heaven and hell. Freaky, but really cool. After that Grace, Calvin, and I joined Professor Rappaport, his wife, and Lauren for lunch at this secluded little panini shop near Ponte Vecchio. The menu was in Italian...so I was adventurous and picked a sandwich with the coolest name. After that, we hiked up the bell tower of the Duomo to another stunning city view and stayed almost above the clouds for as long as we could. Not much can really be said about the view besides an entire sea of red roofs that stretches to the mountains in the distance. Our day was that, and stairs.

Florence came to a close this evening with a wonderful group dinner of ravioli and potatoes. Bittersweet, considering we get to see the Lamborghini factory tomorrow, but I'll certainly miss the city of the Medicis. Off to Parma in the morning!