Pisa & TOGA!

in my travel journal for the date July 16, 1986, I have the following entry: "Pisa --wore Turkish pants. We were off to Pisa today . We were dropped off and allowed to do our own thing. I paid 4000 Lira!!! to walk to the top of the leaning tower. there was one line going up and one line going down, no handrail and the steps were scooped out in the middle from the years of wear, so that you had only a small space to step on. Going up was not a problem, but down! I kept thinking that if someone slips it would be a horrible domino effect. So I was so careful not to be the one to set the dominoes in motion. I bought some roasted pumpkin seeds that everyone liked. We had lunch at a wildlife reserve. We rode through on the bus but never saw one animal. That was funny. It was very pretty there anyway. We went to the beach there but swimmng was not allowed. So they drove us to another town and we went to the beach nearby. the water was great for swimming, not like La Spezia. Versilia was very calm water. Got dunked my Leslie (USA), layed in the sun for a while. When we got back to camp we had a Toga Party. Lots of booze. I drank nothing. I didn't wear a toga at first, but then why not? "Porsche Guy" was there he was with Beth -- oh my! Some sleeze in a blach t-shirt was hitting on every girl, it was funny to watch. Alain felt it was his mission to take care of all the drunk peole. Richard was not happy about the party so he slept in Alain's bed where it was quieter. Alain slept in the hallway."

That was a long, amazing day. Most people know that you are not allowed to go into chruches in Italy if you are improperly dressed. Well, I was not allowed to wear shorts in the Leaning Tower either. Richard, actually, Resat, from Turkey was wearing sweatpants over his shorts so he took them off and loanded them to me so that I could climb the tower. So I climbed to the top in sweatpants. Funny, sweatpants were allowable but my shorts weren't. I am glad I went to the top. It is closed now. There were bells all around the top and had some good views of the area. The Bapistry is also there to see, it is rather plain inside. It was also market day in town that day. Or at least there were a lot of stands along the sides.

Does anyone remember the party at all or the trip to Pisa? Send me an email or post a comment here.

The Toga party. What can I say? I don't know whose idea it was, definitely one of the Americans. the two tommys (USA) sent me the picture of them together. The other is a shot of Cheryl (USA), Tommy (USA) and Vicki (USA). Vicki died on June 4, 2000. She had pancreas and liver cancer. She was a school teacher and every time I see her picture, I can't believe it. I have known her all my life. She was a year older than me. We went to the same school and lived only a few streets from one another. I will write more when it is her post. It is so sad and unbelievable. There is another picture of her on the post for Peter Mitterhofer in January.

I was trying to figure out the name of the wildlife reserve and I think it is Parco di Migliarino, San Rossore, Massaciuccoli. it is a strip of undeveloped land starting near Pisa and heading north toward Massa/carrara. I think that is the one. Anyone know otherwise? I searched the Internet for it and that seems most logical since we were in Pisa but had lunch at the reserve and then headed North to swim. I was not so keen on details then but with the internet I can fill in some of the gaps.