The Leaning Tower of Pisa

By Tammy H. – Guestblogger from Florence
After one hour on the train from Florence, I arrived at Pisa last Sunday morning. From the Pisa train station, the red express bus took me directly to the "Field of Miracles" where I paid 25 euro for entries to everything: the Tower, the Cathedral, the Baptistery, the Cemetery and the museum. Entrance fee to the Tower alone is 15 euro and when you buy the ticket, you'll be told what time you can climb up the Tower.
Since my visit was for 1 pm, I had about 3 hours to leisurely walk around and visit the large Museo of the Opera del Duomo and the Museo delle Sinopie where I watched the 3D show and a video about the reconstruction of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Then I checked my backpack in the cloakroom around the corner from the Tower since nothing except a camera is allowed in there…
I walked up 294 marble steps with 2 stops along the way to walk out and look around, also to take a break from the tiring climb – the Bell Tower of Pisa is 50m high. The date of the Tower foundation was 1173 but to this date, the name of the architect is still unknown. Bonanno Pisanno worked on it in the late 12th century and it was completed in the 14th century under the direction of the famed Giovanni Pisano, master sculptor of many artworks in stone, wood and gold as well as architect of the Duomo of Siena. It was leaning because the soil shifted. The tilt intensified after WWII because of the large number of tourists climbing up and down. It continued to slip 1mm to 2mm per year. In 1999 after 2 years of intense researches and consultations with experts, technicians began a Tower restoration program, which lasted 10 years.
I'm glad the restoration with scaffoldings around was all over when I was there. Now I can tell all my friends that I've climbed the Leaning Tower of Pisa, one of the 7 wonders of the world. Yahoo!!