The leaning tower - Pisa

比薩鐘樓

在意大利的比薩，有一座鐘樓，當它被建成時，是城內最高的建築物。站在鐘樓的頂部，可以俯瞰全城的數里的風貌；他那雄厚的鐘聲，遍及全城每一角落。因此，比薩鐘樓為自己的優點而萬分自豪。

有一天，比薩鐘樓發現在他身旁的大教堂的站立姿勢歪了，於是他提醒大教堂說："身為大教堂，你應樹立好榜樣，企直一點吧！"大教堂一直受不住鐘樓的自負，覺得他的提醒實在是好管閒事,便回答道："你先顧你自己吧！＂

再過一段時間，鐘樓發現不只是大教堂，連身旁的樹木和每日來敲鐘的教士的姿勢也歪了！鐘樓不明白為何人人都傾斜着身體，難道這是時尚？他們不覺得不舒服的嗎？他不禁吶喊：＂世人皆醉我獨醒，誰能明白我的孤獨、我的慨嘆？＂他又立志：＂即使人人都向同一方向傾斜，我也絕不能跟風，以免誤入歧途。＂久而久之，旁人的傾斜角度越來越利害，雖然鐘樓間中感到莫明的腰酸背痛，但仍然唯我獨尊，以自我爲中心，拒絕尋找問題的根本。

有一天，每天來敲鐘的那位教士帶着一班陌生人到來。他們手持各種各樣奇怪的工具，有的爬上它的頭上量度，有的拿着竹竿在地上指東指西。鐘樓一臉汒然，像一只任由宰殺的羔羊。突然，他們竟在鐘樓的腳下挖掘，它想：「難道我的腳下有寶藏？」殊不知他們把大量的水泥注射往鐘樓的腳下，免得他那日益傾斜的身體有一日倒下。

鐘樓終於明白了！他一直誤會，以為別人站立不正，却不曾考慮問題出自自身，就像耶穌責備那些無知的人，只懂得挑剔別人眼中的刺，而看不見自己眼中的樑木一樣。他亦終於發覺自己需要接受外來的幫助，從前的自負並不能救他脫離倒塌的危險。

到今天，鐘樓仍舊穩固地豎立，身體雖然有點傾斜，但却不會致命。他那可愛的「殘障」，更成為遊客必到的熱點，很多人冒名而來，為要觀摩這座傾而不倒的建築物。鐘樓也為着自己帶給別人快樂而感到恩惠，過着幸福愉快的生活。

Roma - Piazza Navona

When I arrived at Rome, the first thing I had to do was to visit places that I missed so much. In my previous visit in March with a tour group, the pace was so fast that I couldn't even enjoy all the places. So, this time, I had to enjoy.

In the first afternoon, I went to Piazza Navona, which is a public space full of people, activities, artists, restaurants and relaxed atmosphere.

Artists had their areas to sell art works. They are not necessary scenery. Some of them are pure art, like painting of unknown people or abstract arts.


Sculptures play important role in the streets. When you turn from one ally to the other, you never know what will happen next. There are always fascinating surprises.

I don't necessary know the names of each sculpture and artists, but all these work together as a whole and formed Rome. I was very much amazed by the city. It has magic. It is attractive, and I can't explain what it is. It has an aroma that makes you tipsy.



Human sculptures also.... like what we have here in Waikiki. They reward audience with candies.


This clown in the plaza energized me with one hour of entertainment.

He made fun of pedestrians in the piazza, and at one point, he was joked by a few girls too. Very funny and memorable for his creativity!

Pisa

The bus tour's final stop was Pisa's Piazza del Duomo. Everybody's focus was the learning tower. Since it was getting dark, and I could stay 40 minutes in the site. I rushed to climb the tower.

I can't believe that I was there!

I was actually the only one in the tour who climbed the leaning tower. If I didn't run and missed one minute, I would have missed the chance, because there was a schedule to enter the tower. The tower was made with marble, which is a very common building material in the area. After being used for almost 800 years, the center of the steps was worn.

Looking out from the steps through the narrow openings to outside.....

I sweat when I arrived to the roof of the tower. When we looked down to the center of the tower, there were some bells, because it is actually a bell tower. I wandered around the "dish" many times, up and down because one end of the roof is lower than the other end. It was very funny, just like running in a sloped parking lot.




I stayed for 20 minutes, then we had to leave. The stairway was very narrow and slippery!

Siena and San Gimignamo

Yum! Gelato shop is everywhere in Siena and San Gimignamo. They are two towns or old cities in Tuscany. I took a bus tour one day from Florence to visit other towns in Tuscany. It was a rainy day, yet full of joy and fun!

Siena still has the oldest bank in the world that still operates. This town is so proud of its banking system. They claims that they invented the modern day banking system. It always compete with Florence as the number one city of Tuscany.

The Duomo in Siena, another cathedral for Mary is a grand and highly decorative building. Marble is used because it is local material.

I was so impressed with the pictures on the floor. They were not paintings or drawings, but cut marbles! See this image with black, white, red and yellow marble!



Then, the tour bus took us to San Gimignamo, which is famous for its several medieval 17-story high rise apartment buildings. Look at this apartment that has only one "big" window on one side.... I think this is more like a prison for a princess.




San Gimignamo, like Siena, has narrow streets and they end with a piazza. This piazza below is where the world champion of ice-cream located. I had a pistachio ice-cream and it was really different from what I had before. It had very rich taste of pistachio!


This is definitely a tourist town now. However, public toilet is rare. You have to pay to use the facility.

The narrow archways are perfect frames to open up my curiosity. They led you to another world, then you arrive at another arch, and you want to go further to find out more. San Gimignamo is amazing!

The rain did not impact my mood. It was a perfect day to travel. I am glad that I did not have the negative attitude that will definitely bring me down.

Rainy days? No problem. The joy from the Lord is my strength :)

Florence

I left the 3-D live postcard, Venice, for Tuscany, and my first stop was Florence. I stayed in Lorena, a hotel room with shared bathroom. It costs only 35 euros, but the service was excellent. The building was old, but it has a retrofit elevator, that can fit one skinny person and one luggage. It was pretty good. The room was bright, clean and hipped!

It was a rainy day that I arrived. I had to visit the Duomo, the Basilica di Santa maria del Fiore. It was in my architecture history book, and it is a huge building. From many pictures, the exterior was gray, yet this actually has a lot of green and pinkish color.

This church is the main gathering place for religious activities, and surprisingly, unlike many other churches, it is surrounded by many office buildings, so the piazza in front of the church is very small. It was hard to get a good shot of the building.



Then, I went to my second favorite place that I always saw in postcards, Ponte Vecchio. It is a medieval bridge over the Arno River. It has shops and residence on both sides along the bridge.

I like the naturally beautiful and soothing color scheme. When Napoleon attacked Florence, he saved this bridge because of its beauty.

Upon arrival to the mid point of the bridge, I enjoyed the view of Arno River.

The roads are very narrow in the city center, so I walked the entire time. From the hotel to this bridge takes about 30 minutes, and there were a lot to see along the way. "Women's street" type of vendors and markets were everywhere. Leather goods were everywhere, and I regret that I did not get any....

The Grand Canal 2

The canal water is rising. You can see decks going from the "dry land to the interior of buildings. Sometimes the water level is higher than the ground floor, so it has to be abandoned.


I can imagine a nice patio outside a restaurant in the old times here (image below), but now, the space is no longer usable.


Guess what this hole is? Water taxi station!


The canal branches into little waterways. Only taxi and small boats can go through. This image below is taken outside the hotel that I stayed.


Venice is beautiful!

BTW, Chinese pickled vegetable and pork noodles (spaghetti) look like this in Venice. Tasted OK....

The Grand Canal 1

I asked the staff in Locanda Silva (the hotel where I stayed) how to get to the main train station. She told me that I can take the bus. I had no idea what she was talking about because I did not see any vehicular roads on the little island. Then, the light bulb was lit. She meant the water bus. Bus means public transportation!



The bus runs mostly on the grand canal. I hopped on to the bus and had a general tour on the grand canal.


Venice is like a 3-D postcard. Everywhere is so beautiful and articulated.


Narrow canals can only allow taxis and service boats to go through.


Here is the early morning delivery boat....


Pink ...


Yellow....


Orange....

Doge's Palace

It is the residence of the Doge (duke) in the 15th century. The current palace (building on the right below) was constructed between 1309-1424, and very well decorated. It is right next to the Basilica of San Marco.




It has a grant interior court, and the stairs led you to the second level, where a lot of ball rooms and conference rooms are.



The ceiling of the "Golden Stair" below. The images are not paintings. They are sculptures!



Each capital of the exterior columns has its own unique design. They represent things like seasons, daily lives, person's life, fruits, animals and birds of Venice.....etc.