July 15, 2019 – Camellia's Travel Blog

I do not have any Italian ancestors, but my Grandfather, Billy Payne, was the “co-mayor” of Pisa, Italy for a couple of days during WWII. Pisa was liberated by the US Army in the Spring of 1945 and my grandfather (along with another equal ranking officer) was in charge of the city until a higher-ranking officer arrived on the scene. The locals appointed my grandfather and his fellow officer to be the “mayors” in order to establish order in the city after the local Axis authorities had abandoned the city. For me, getting to se Pisa was reliving a piece of family history!

Though it rained off and on all day, the city was still beautiful and the people friendly. Initially we took the bus the wrong way, but quickly found the correct path and arrived at stop Torre Uno and the Piazza del Signores. This is the piazza where the Leaning Tower of Pisa , St. Johns Baptistery, and the Cathedral of Pisa are located. The famous tower was built in the 13/14^th centuries. The foundation started sinking soon after construction was completed. It sank almost 3.9m (12.1ft) off center. In the 20^th century permanent metal reinforcements were placed in the base, thereby keeping the tower from sinking further. The tower is actually the Campanile or bell tower belonging to the church

However in my opinion, the cathedral and baptistery were visually more stunning. Inside the Cathedral of Pisa the square golden roof and ceiling tiles geometrically played off the horizontal grey and blue marble stripes. St. Raminies and St. Guido are buried there.

Cathedral of Pisa
The Campanile (bell tower) is peeking out from the right side. I took this photo from the balcony of the Baptistry.

St. John’s Baptistery contained an elegant grey and black marble striped interior with white/gray marble exterior. The 54m tall dome and octagonal shaped copula made the interior acoustically perfect. In the center were 4 baptisteries, an altar, and pulpit. The building is still used today for baptisms.

We ate pizza for lunch and did a little shopping. It was surprising cold and damp with the rain and wind. The kids purchased sweatshirts and I a shawl. Robert had a long sleeve shirt on so he was warm enough. We enjoyed walking through the old town and came across the church of the Knights of St. Stephen, which had the Knight’s Templar motto carved into the door lentil.

The Panini Demon of Pisa:
What nightmares are made of for poor Faywen. He was very kind and saw that she was frightened of him and told me he would not walk near her!

Since it was cool, we opted for tea, coffee, and cannoli instead of gelato. The café was located on the Arno River. We bought a few groceries at a market near the river. For supper we ate at a McDonalds. It was entertaining listening to kids sing Happy Birthday in Italian! The world is smaller and more similar than we realize!