Our ship stopped in Livorno, Italy and many passengers opted to head into Florence or other areas of Tuscany—we decided to take a walking tour of Pisa.   

Pisa is another medieval walled town, which today houses approximately 90,000 residents, and an additional 50,000 students at the three universities in Pisa.  The town has huge numbers of tourists (taking selfies at strange angles to show how they are propping up the leaning tower), and a youthful vibe, with bicyclists everywhere, and many cafes, bars and restaurants.  

The influence of the Medici family and other wealthy Florentines is evident in Pisa – beautiful palazzi line the Arno River, and the Medici crest appears on buildings throughout the town.  

The Arno River flows through Pisa (and on to Florence, about 40 miles east) and water can be found not too far under the land in this part of Tuscany.  Building large marble towers and other edifices carries risk that the land will not support the buildings over time (hence the leaning tower, and other buildings in the city that lean slightly).  

Our visit in Pisa included the leaning tower, of course, as well as the neighboring Cathedral and Baptistry, which are beautiful.  The Cathedral and Baptistry are slowly sinking, since they were built on the same plain as the tower, but their weight is distributed over a larger base than the tower, so they do not appear to be leaning.  

In recent years, concrete has been injected into the ground to support the tower, and other safeguards have been adopted -the practice of allowing people to climb to the top of the tower has even resumed, after many years when it was not permitted for reasons of safety. 

We spent some time in the neighborhood that makes up the campus of the Scuola Normale Superior, a prestigious school that has graduted Nobelists and other award winners such as Enrico Fermi.  The curriculum is rigorous, but students who are accepted and earn high grades enjoy a completely free education.  

And once again we enjoyed a gelato in the course of our trek.  Another excellent day in Italy!   

JFB and MAM

Today was very special—we went to see the summer palace for Popes—Castelo Gandolfo.  Opened to visitors in 2016, it has served as the summer palace for Popes since the Seventeenth Century.  Castelo Gandolfo is about 28 kilometers outside of Rome.  Pope Francis never spent a single night there, which is probably why it was opened to the public.  We’ll have to wait and see what happens with a new Pope. 

On the grounds there is a lovely, peaceful green park, overlooking Lake Albano. The palace has many rooms for formal receptions and visits, as well as many private rooms (such as the room where Pope Benedict used to watch soccer games on television). 

The palace itself has beautiful gardens, mostly green without many floral areas. We had the opportunity to visit the “secret garden” of the Pope. It contained pathways of crushed white stone where the pope could walk and contemplate. The garden housed many statues and a fountain designed to reflect a grotto honoring Mary. The garden is a very peaceful place. 

While touring the palace we saw the pope’s bedroom, private chapel, office, and many other rooms. 

The decoration of the castle is not very ornate by castle standards. The colors chosen to decorate the rooms reflect the seaside and nature. 

Notably the castle has many, many portraits of the popes.  Several portraits of the most recent pontiffs are below.

Among other items of note: Pope Benedict retired to Castle Gandolfo, and Pope John Paul II spent a lot of time in contemplation at Castel Gandolfo. Pope Francis visited the castle three times but never stayed overnight.

One of the exhibits at the castle involves the uniforms worn by the Swiss guard and various other uniformed personnel, including the Carmerlengo. (The Carmerlengo administers the temporal affairs of the Holy See during a papal vacancy.)  There is a picture below of the uniform the Carmerlengo  wore in prior centuries. 

Castel Gandolfo is a beautiful place, and it was very meaningful to spend some time in the very rooms where various pontiffs lived when they had a chance to get away from the summer heat in Vatican City. 

After we finished touring Castel Gandolfo we walked up through cobblestone streets in a very pretty town, and saw a church where a Monday morning wedding was taking place. There were lots of people in attendance with flowers and rice thrown to celebrate, and beautiful attire on all of the participants. 

JFB and MAM

When our ship docked in Naples, we had the opportunity to visit the ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum. 

Pompeii was instantly buried beneath 30 feet of volcanic ash and cinder when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 A.D.  People living in the city perished instantly when the volcanic ash poured down on the city.

We had an interesting tour of the portion of the city that has been excavated. We saw streets, homes, and shops that were preserved intact as a result of the instantaneous cascade of volcanic ash that rained down on the city. Consequently it provided a glimpse of Roman life as it was 2000 years ago.

We then visited the nearby city of Herculaneum, which was a both wealthier and  smaller than Pompeii.

Nearby Herculaneum was destroyed by massive lava flows from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.  Before the volcano erupted, some of the wealthy inhabitants of the town were able to leave by ship. Others didn’t make it out. The homes that they left behind were buried in mud and are therefore well preserved.  In fact, residents of the city knew how to construct walls in a way that would withstand some earthquakes, which made it even easier to see some of the structures in their original state.  

It was interesting to imagine how life was in these towns 2000 years ago, and to see the contrast between the two cities in terms of the wealth of the inhabitants.   Also very interesting to see the manners in which the cities were destroyed (or left intact) by natural disasters.

JFB and MAM

As we approach the final leg of our journey we will have several stops in Italy. The first stop, which we just had, was in Erice, Sicily. It is a small town (pop 27,000) located on the top of Mount Erice. It is about 2,500 feet above sea level and overlooks the town of Trapani.  

Erice is a member of an organization named “Borghi più belli d’Italia” which translates  as “The most beautiful villages of Italy.” It’s hard to argue with that characterization.  

We went on a walking tour of the town. Typical  of medieval towns, it is walled off; there are defendable gates that lead into the city; it is loaded with churches, and it has a few castles.

We visited Chiesa Madre di Erice in piazza Matrice. The church, which featured elaborate architecture inside, is dedicated to Santa Maria Assunta.  

After exploring the inside of the church we headed toward the top of the town where the view of Trapani is breathtaking. Also, while taking in the view from the mountain, we spotted one of the many castles in the town. 

Of course, before long the place was packed with tourists. And you can really begin to understand why a city whose current business model is built on tourism is getting a bit ambivalent about it. The population is only about 27,000 and by the summer the visitors will come close to outnumbering the residents. 

Having said that, when we had some free time, like typical tourists we relaxed, had some pastry and an expresso in a local cafe and then began the ride back to the port. That entailed going through narrow winding roads with lots of hairpin turns. The best course is probably to simply suspend disbelief that doom is imminent and enjoy the sights, which are truly breathtaking. 

JFB