Pisa

June 26

Today we went to Pisa on the coast, about an hour and a half from Florence, where we are staying. On the way, we stopped at the town of Lucca, where we had lunch in the charming old section of town. In Italy, they have preserved the historical old sections of town by keeping them separate from newer areas. The old sections have plazas, narrow alleys between buildings, and the buildings are never higher than the churches, which are the center piece of the towns. Many of the towns have several big churches. After Lucca, we arrived in Pisa, and saw its very famous landmark, the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Its incredible to see this after seeing pictures of it since I was a little kid. Brian and I another choir student climbed to the top. It was odd to be on this winding staircase that would alternate from leaning to the left, back, right, down as you circled your way to the top. We also toured the cathedral, or duomo, with its beautiful architecture and artwork, and we went into the baptistry, that has the amazing ability of sustaining a sound for about 15 seconds. A guide came in every half hour and gave a demonstration of how it sustained a note by singing three different notes in harmony and hearing a beautiful, sustained chord. That evening, we ate at a wonderful restaurant that closed to everyone else but us. We took up the entire restaurant for two hours, and they treated us very well. We had spaghetti, of course. Actually, I have had pasta just about every meal. It's good. I haven't had to get used to weird food here, because I have always loved Italian food. Their gelato, or ice cream, as well as their pastries, are superb as well. After dinner, we went to the Chiesa de Santa Marie del Carmine for the concert. Each time the kids perform, the Italians are enthralled and give them thunderous applause. Afterwards, the choir members mingle amongst the attendees and have fun communicating in broken Italian and broken English. We got home after midnight and were exhausted after a day full of activity.