Today was another long day on the motorway, but the bright side to this is we are now in Italy (not that leaving the French Riviera is a bad thing!). As if to welcome the fact Sally and I had pizza for lunch, and we are expecting to have many more slices and bowls or plates of pasta as well. Our major stop today was in a little place you may have heard of called Pisa. We had to get off our nice tour bus to get on a local bus to be able to get to the square of miracles (where everything in Pisa you want to see is) and then we had to be harassed by many people (mostly Africans, but there were a few gypsies and even some Asians thrown in) wanting to sell you merchandise that if you are caught buying you can be fined €10,000. We eventually made it to the square and the first thing that hits you about the leaning tower is a) it's not that big and b) it's not leaning that much. But as you walk closer both things become irrelevant as it is a) actually very tall and b) very leany! The surrounds also make it all the more special, you have a dome and a cathedral right there as well and they are both almost as spectacular as the tower. We weren't given specific details as to how old all of these things were but I'm guessing over 500 (I could be wrong). Another thing is that it is almost as good looking at the tower as it is looking at the scores of people pretending to hold it up! We did do that but my angles were off slightly and now Sally looks like she is almost leaning against it. We are staying in Sorrento tomorrow so it will be hot.

Alex