Pisa

11 July
Pisa

Both of us decided that we will head back north. Originally we were going to try visit the tip of the boot. Ruby is just a little slow and time is running out. Things also work better up north. The drivers as we have said are another story too. Nick and I even made a few names for these avid Team Ferrari amateurs. Here are a few of the names:

Luigi Likealotto Cutthecorners
Guiseppi Overtakeon Solidline-o's
Luca Liketo Comeinmy Lane-o
Marco Maybestopping Here-o
and many more...

Anyway, if you don't think it's funny, it's a private joke. We have a lot of time on our hands. It's not quite eye spy – but it keeps us entertained.
So we started the long trek up along the west coast and made a stop at Pisa.

It is tiny! The Tower that is. Much smaller than I would have ever expected. You can see that this architecturally wrong piece is the definite pride of the city. Another thing is it had a Basilica (I think) and some other building alongside. Set in the same style as the tower and just a beautiful. This too wasn't expected. I thought it stood alone.

There are lush green lawns surrounding all these. Nick and I originally planned a mini picnic on the grass – wine, cold meats, cheese and crackers. We brought everything along except the crackers. Plus the grass was being watered ao we couldn't sit. To be honest, it was severely hot and probably better under the shade cloth back at camp. So we hopped back on our bicycles and left.

On arrival at the campsite earlier we had chatted to our Kiwi site neighbours, Ann and Kevin Anton. When we returned we invited them to watch the FIFA final with us at the onsite pub. Well, we all chatted up a storm and had a great giggle. In fact, by the end of the evening the most of us were a little merry (or maybe that was just me?).

TIP: not sure if I have mentioned this elsewhere on the blog... In Italy it is a standard to swim with a swimming cap. Some pools allow you to swim if you do not wet you hair (regardless of how little you may have) and other strictly do not. If you travel Italy in the summer – you need to swim. It is a human right in that heat. Take your cap.