Leaning tower of Pisa and San Gimgnano

Ironic that a country renowned for its magnificent architecture finds its most iconic is the leaning tower of Piza - a building disaster that draws crowds from all over the world!

Pisa was an important maritime city in the 12th C however the Cathedral - Duomo didn't have a bell tower - Italians love their bell towers a phallic representation of power and wealth.  This was rectified    in 1173 when work started on the The Piazza dei Miracoli  - the leaning tower.  The foundations started sinking after the first 3 tiers were built and attempts to correct it failed.  Now you can climb the tower if you book in advance and are over 8yrs so that ruled us out.  I did it when I was 20 yrs old when there wasn't the enormous amount of tourists present to contend with.

We then drove to San Gimignano a small walled medieval hill top town in Tuscany famous for its many towers.  Prominent families tried to out do each other by building bigger and better towers, at its peak there were 72 towers now only 14 remain.  We climbed the tallest one which was the Palazzo Comunale - town hall. 

Classic shot making fun of the tower

Another classic shot - look my thumbs can hold this up!

The tower is 4.47m out of plumb

Beautiful Tuscan countryside

The main piazza in San Gimignano the 'Manhattan' of Tuscany

Tuscan pottery

Boars and cheese traditional fare in Tuscany - San Gimignano

Palazzo Comunale tower

Views from the tower in San Gimignano