Italy Adventures - Milan and Pisa

Happy Italy Tuesday! Thank you for joining me as I re-cap our trip to Italy. This week, let's explore a bit of Milan and that infamous Leaning Tower in Pisa.

On the way from Venice to the Lake Regions, we stopped in the City of Milan. Milan may be known for being the financial capitol of Italy and the Fashion Capital of the world, but we enjoyed the historical side of the city.

We got to see the Pieta Rondanini, the unfinished sculpture  by Michelangelo. He passed away in 1564 before he was able to finish it. 

We visited the Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana where we viewed Raphael's sketch of "The School of Athens"created between 1508 and 1511 He used this sketch as a guide to the fresco located in Vatican City.

This was probably my favorite piece of the day. "Vase of Flowers With Jewels and Shells" was a delight to the eyes with over 100 species of colorful blooms!

...oh, and did I mention the architecture...OMD, everywhere you turned in Italy, the architecture outdid itself!

Here is a video of our afternoon in Milan:

Speaking of architecture.....Let's take a look around Miracle Square in Pisa, where we stopped to view that famous leaning tower.

Made of white marble, the Pisa Cathedral and Bell (Leaning) Tower are beautiful to behold. Of course, marble is heavy and the grounds in Pisa are marshy and this contributed to part of the tower's foundation to sink.

So was born the tower that put Pisa on the map. From some angles it is hard to see the actual "leaning" and, thanks to repairs made during the late 90s, they did stableize the tower with added lead counterweights.

Here is a shot where the lean is much more pronounced.

Here is a short video of our stop in Pisa:

We couldn't leave without the obligitory, "Holding the Tower Up" shot, thanks to Ed for indulging me. 

Thanks so much for stopping by today. Join me in two weeks when we visit Florence, the final city on our Italy tour.

We are joining Sandee at Comedy Plus for the 

Happy Tuesday Blog Hop this week!