Pisa!

I know when I lived in Italy as a kid, we definitely went to Pisa. We have a picture of my on my (real) dad's shoulders holding up the Tower. But, it doesn't hurt to get another one (or ten)!

Babbo, me, and mamma

This was scary and dangerous!

 Babbo explained that the piazza that the Torre is in is set up to symbolize human life. It starts out with the bastismal bath respresenting Birth. All Catholic children are basptized as babies.

Baptism bath

 The church represents life.

A faithful Catholic would spend a lot of time in church. Not just Sunday mornings. Special events like marriage would be here. Easter and Christmas would be spent here.

Life.

And the last part, to complete the circle, is the cemetery/mausoleum. Symbolizing death.

This is the best picture I have, on the right, behind the dome is the cemetery.

This is a pretty important flag. It rests atop the Torre. I believe it's the city's flag, but it might also be from back when Pisa, Florence, Rome, etc, were all their own separate countries and constantly at war with each other. Anyway, it's old.

Overall, it was a nice (if not VERY cold) day with my host parents. We walked around the city a little, stopped for coffee and I bought a pastry with sweet rice inside it (without my knowledge at the time). As weird as it sounds, it was pretty good. I'd eat another one.