Pisa: the Touristy Stuff

We can't remember whether this is our third or fourth visit to Pisa. First time you go to see the leaning thing. Second time you go to show the kids, who, in our case, actually got to go up to the top: one of our treasured family photos. Third time, for old time's sake. Fourth: well, really, for the Buffalmacho frescoes in the cemetery, but that's another story, or post.

First view of the Field of Miracles, the Baptistry and beyond

Cathedral and tower

Tourists

Other tourists; I have often thought an interesting photo

book might be one of all the silly poses people undertake at

such sights...

'

Yes, even after all the repairs of the past two

decades, it really does lean, disturbingly

Recylcing stones on the cathedral

Cathedral facade...its own style, Pisa Romanesque...begun in

1073...that's way old for Europe...

Interior; people who are too stupid to dress

appropriately get these attractive little

disposable wraps to wear...

In 1073, we were still very much under the

Byzantine influence

Pantokrator and all

Pulpit by the same team that did Siena

Nice, swirling Ascension dome, however

In the huge Baptistry, which also leans, though

not as perceptibly

The Bapistry has an incredible 10 second echo; I went up to

the balcony and sang a couple bars of "Stranger in the night,

some people say I'm stranger in the night," but Vicki, below,

at one o'clock, claimed she couldn't hear me; I think it was

another case of SHDS (Spousal Hearing Deficiency

Syndrome)

Volterra Crossbow Tournament

So we have traveled all over France and the UK of GB and all sorts of other places one associates with crossbows--usually wielded by the bad guys--and never yet have we seen a live crossbow tournament. Not until Volterra, that is. And with all the pageantry and pomp and circumstance and history and color that should accompany such an event. I wish I could say "and in English, too," but knowing what was going on probably would have ruined it for us.

Attending the crossbow tournament was Vicki's idea. She's always interested in "folk" things. Well, anything involving costumes. I don't know how many times I have been asked to photograph some poor innocent in a costume, usually a child cruelly forced by parents to engage in some civic pageantry. But here I sensed an opportunity for amusement, even mirth. Nor was I disappointed.

Always comforting to know the Cruce Rosso and EMTs are

present at such events; we arrived early and took seats well

behind the firing line

Local press covered the event; although every 
non-widowed woman in Italy wears tights, this 
is the only male I have seen so dressed; notice 
that I am not the only one shooting in his 
direction...

Arrival of Hizzoner the Lord High Mayor and escorts; all this

taking place in the Piazza dei Priori

The MC, who was apparently very funny, although

we got none of the humor

Arrival of the nobility supporting the event

Arrival of more nobility supporting the event

Each house announces its sponsored entries; at great length;

the microphone gal was the busiest of all the participants; I'll

spare you the other seven

More pomp

And finally, "Play ball!"

Entry of contestants; they shoot in flights of two and three;

note the size of the crossbows; all the ones I have seen in the

movies apparently have been carbines; these are howitzers

"Ready, aim..."

The result: pretty impressive accuracy

It takes a micrometer to establish...

A winner

More flights ensue; more losers,  more winners

You get the picture; at this point, the pomp and circumstance

and costumery are over, and Vicki announces she thinks
watching paint dry might be more interesting...

Members of the cast are drifting away, and

so do we; I'll get the results from the ESPN

website tonight

Volterra 2

Every town has its dark side, and Volterra seems to be some

sort of center for Mormon vampirism; but the locals seem

to be taking it good-naturedly

And the old Medici fortress has been converted to a small

prison, holding forty-some elite Mafia prisoners (we read)

The views are nice though

Ruins of Roman amphitheatre, baths, forum, et cetera

Etruscan Gate; what, your town doesn't have an

Etruscan Gate?!

Alabaster is very big here; has been for

a couple millennia; an artisan's

workshop

The Fonti di Docciola, which opened onto...

The (free) camper-stop

Volterra 1

Volterra is one of the older Tuscan hill towns, a member of the Etruscan League, with plenty of Roman remains as well. It has its share of tourists, but mostly independent travelers like us. We liked it sufficiently well to stay a couple days and nights.

Volterra main piazza and Palazzo dei Priori,

said to be the oldest public administration

building in Tuscany; setting up for a crossbow

tournament to be covered in a subsequent post

12th century duomo

Very dark inside and no Divine Illumination

Machine

The main reason we came to Volterra (other

than to see another nice, untrammeled
Tuscan hill town, one that seems to be 
coping gracefully with its fame): Rosso 
Fiorentino's Deposition from the Cross, 
widely regarded as the beginning of 
Mannerism (think Michaelangelo and pals); 
in the Pinacoteca

Closer up

Also Ghirlandaio's Christ in Glory, with its

two adoring Etruscan goddesses

In the fine little Etruscan museum

Etruscan gold work

Me and mini-me

1,000 Days Since Embarcation

So we drove on, eventually landing at a rare Italian lay-by, with a view even

Next morning we drove up to our next stop, Volterra

Looking at our website, as we do every few months, we noticed this (Saturday) 
was our 1,000th day since embarcation, according to the counter gadget there 
installed

So we hiked up the stairs from Volterra's (free) camper-stop, 
took in a bit of the beautiful old town (more later) and

And enjoyed a memorable lunch, wine and bruschetta with tomatoes, and

Sausage pizza for Vicki and wild boar in sausage, olive and 
onion sauce with little polenta cakes for me; reflecting on 
our 1,000 days of travel since September of 2008, and the

next 1,000 days...

Sans Jimmie-Johnny

I should explain that our pronunciation of San Gimignano derives from our years in Texas. (Rickie Stevie is derived, however, from Will Ferrell's Rickie Bobbie). We have visited San Jimmie-Johnny two or three times, and, speaking for myself, have found it a place that does not grow on you. Further, there is no camper parking except a couple miles from the town, a camper-stop where, for 22 euros (32U$D), you can park and take the free shuttle bus to town; when it runs; or, still further out, a parking lot where for 1 euro an hour you can park and take the regional bus back to Jimmie-Johnnie; whenever it runs. I don't mind paying reasonably for something worth seeing. I do mind being gouged for something that is vastly over-rated and that I have seen before. We drove on, probably never to see Jimmie-Johnnie again. So be it.

San Jimmie-Johnny at dusk

Something not in the tourist literature: about a mile from San

Gimignano is one of Italy's largest prisons; do not pick up

hitch-hikers...