The one and only attraction, leaning tower, is 845 years old! It was built as a symbol of victory of the Pisa people over the Sicilians. It took 200 years to build thanks to delays in construction due to wars and such. Unstable soil is the reason for the 3.99 degree lean, which wasn't discovered until the third level was constructed The engineers attempted to rectify the problem by building the following stories shorter on one side and this subtle correction can be seen if you look closely enough:
Like Pisa, Florence is full of character and deep in history. Whilst I was being a nerd at the conference, Jake was busy joining walking groups and learning about the history, culture and tasting the best cuisine Florence has to offer. The conference itself is in true Italian style. You are never quite sure what time sessions will start, if they start at all and in which order the proceedings are to occur. There seems to be a lot of song and dance though (and prosecco).
I've always claimed it was impossible to find better than Gelatissimo hazelnut icecream. I now admit, I was wrong. There is even better gelateria, and happens to be at the end of our street. As is a number of great little local restaurants. I seems we don't have to venture far to eat and drink like a true Florentine!
Tonight before sunset, we climbed up to a small square on top of a hill to soak up the wonderful city views whilst indulging in some local vino bianco, cheese and prosciutto for dinner (followed by another cheeky ice cream for dessert).
I'll hand over the reins for the next post to Jake. He's off to Cinque Terre tomorrow for a couple of days, so will have more interesting things to write about than me. I might go to the conference..or not...it doesn't sound like the Italians really expect anyone to attend hehe. And there is a lot of shopping to be done here!
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