The Leaning Tower of Pisa

On April 7, 2017 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Italy6 Comments

One of the things that we always recommend to people is that, if you are spending four or more days in a city, you take time for at least one day excursion into the surrounding area. While we were in Florence, we took our own advise and did take a day tour, which ended with a couple of hours in Pisa. Obviously the main reason that people travel to Pisa is to see the famous leaning bell tower. The bell tower is a freestanding tower, meaning that unlike most bell towers that are attached to the main cathedral, this tower is an independent structure. Rarely do you ever visit a location just to see something that was a completely unintended result.

View of the Cathedral Roof and the Baptistery

The tower started leaning during its original construction due to the soft ground and not allocating a large enough foundation to support the tower. The tower has been stabilized a couple of times in recent years to ensure that it doesn’t actually fall over, so it doesn’t actually lean quite as much today as it did a few decades ago. The tower started leaning during its construction, so the architect and builders made slight adjustments as they finished the tower, so you can see a slight difference in angles between the lower rings of the tower and the final ring that holds the bells.

If you want to go to the top of the bell tower, you will need to be sure to buy your tickets in advance as only a limited number of people are allowed to enter every thirty minutes. We went during the off-season, but there will still plenty of crowds and we purchased our tickets a few days in advance. The ticket to the tower also includes visiting either the Pisa Cathedral or the Baptistery. We chose to visit the cathedral, which is certainly beautiful, but perhaps not as remarkable as some of the other cathedrals found in Italy and Europe in general.

After climbing the almost three-hundred stairs to the top of the bell tower, the views are certainly amazing. The marble stairs are very worn and can be quite slippery, but the leaning of the tower makes for an odd effect as you circle around, leaning different directions as you climb or descend. As people exit, you can see slight symptoms of dizziness on their faces as they reacquaint themselves to level footing. Despite the overcast skies, we truly enjoyed seeing the historic rooftops of the city of Pisa.

We would certainly recommend to anyone that they visit this iconic sight, but you really only need a couple of hours to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa and the Pisa Cathedral. Not that the town of Pisa isn’t a pleasant place to visit, there are several other smaller cities in Tuscany that are worth a longer visit. You won’t see any photos of us where we look like we are trying to hold up the tower, but almost every other tourist seemed to be attempting to create that classic image. We were just happy to enjoy seeing the tower and take a few pictures to capture the memory.

Schloss Stolzenfels

On March 27, 2017 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Germany5 Comments

Located just outside of Koblenz, Germany, is the Stolzenfels Castle. We had taken the train from Frankfurt to Koblenz, so we had to take a taxi to get to the grounds of the castle, but it was one of the sights that we wanted to see while we were in Koblenz. The area around the castle is a park with plenty of walking trails and it is a very steep hike to make your way up to the castle itself. Needless to say, there are a lot of castles in Germany, especially along the Rhine River, but we found this one to be different than most of the others that we had seen. First of all, the walls of the castle, which was later turned into a palace, are white instead of the typical gray stones. The other thing that stands out are the spires of the cathedral that is part of the castle complex.

It is clear from the dramatic views of the river valley as to why they would have chosen this location for the castle. The castle was originally built to protect the toll station on the river collecting money from ships transporting goods through the region. Over time it was extended several times and occupied by both the French and the Swiss. It was destroyed during the Nine Years’ War and then eventually rebuilt as a palace in the 1800’s by Crownprince Frederick William IV. The gothic chapel was completed in 1845 and was visited by Queen Victoria.

The castle is open to the public and can be toured, but unfortunately for us, there were no English tours available as it was off-season and a Sunday, so tour times were limited. Even without getting to see the inside of the castle, it was well worth the strenuous hike to see the castle and the views of the Rhine Valley. The Upper Middle Rhine Valley, where Schloss Stolzenfels resides, was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2002.

Just strolling the grounds of the park is well worth the visit and seemed to be a favorite pastime of locals. One could imagine the impression of guests as the passed through the impressive guardhouse on their way up summit and the grand palace entranceway. Unfortunately we didn’t have our own horse-drawn carriage and locating a taxi to return to Koblenz turned out to be almost impossible. Fortunately, the taxi driver who had dropped us off had given us his business card and we were able to call him and have him come and get us. It took about an hour for him to arrive, but that didn’t diminish how impressed we were with Schloss Stolzenfels.

Romania Has Been an Experience

On January 17, 2017 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Romania10 Comments

Once again we have been quiet for a few days as we have been traveling in Romania for the past week. We fly back to Germany tomorrow, but it has been an interesting experience over-all. We spent a couple of days in Bucharest before heading to Transylvania and the city of Brasov, which was certainly the highlight of the trip. We have seen some very wonderful sights, but in many different ways it has not been what we were expecting. Here are a couple of pictures of some of the things that we have seen, but right now we are looking forward to this coming weekend at home, catching up on some much needed rest.