This morning we attended Sunday Mass at the Duomo here in Pisa. We went inside the baptistery, the largest in Italy. Not only the tower leans, but apparently all the other buildings too. It would be really obvious that the baptistery has a distinct lean, overshadowed only by the more acute angle of the bell tower. People here just walk around like it is totally normal to have a building leaning like that. Like they don't know it has been causing an international stir for centuries.
After puttering about the pretty city for the rest of the afternoon, we packed onto the train to La Spezia, then hopped another train to the Cinque Terre area for the little town of Vernazza where we will stay for the next three nights. From all accounts, the Cinque Terre is astoundingly beautiful, and the postcards can't really say it all.
The town is a haven of bright buildings and old stone buildings clinging to cliffsides in a precarious manner. There are no cars here and the streets are narrow walled alleyways that lead to the market, the few shops and the sea. Here is the spot where somebody dreamed up pesto. So pesto we had, as well the another local speciality, insalata caldo, frutta del mare; warm seafood salad. Calamari, squid, octopus, mussels, prawn-like creatures and some other unidentifiable sea life served up warm with local veggies and lemon. We tried it all and lived to tell about it, our first real taste of the Meditteranean.
When I inquired the name of the house wine we were drinking, our waiter said, "Itsa redda, a rosso, itsa fromma da Cinque Terra, itsa wata we drinking-ga here-a."
So now you know.
Tomorrow we hike and explore.
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