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5/5/02 Sunday
Breakfast then we left for Pisa at 12:10. We arrived in one hour. The tower was not available until 5:20 so we've gone looking for an ATM. The first one wouldn't give me even ¤300 so we kept going. Found a nice place for lunch."Il Santi" on via S. Maria 71/73. I'm having lasagna and spaghetti. Elaine's having tomato and mozzarella salad and gnocchi and white beans. My spaghetti was pente pasta and hit the spot. The lasagna had a problem. The cheese part was not good tasting. Was only able to take two bites. Elaine's giving her gnochi a 4. The white beans were not as good as last nights but "OK". However interesting decor.
After taking a little walk along the river,we checked our email for ¤1.40. We went back to the tower and got a 6:40 time slot to go up. Then we went into the cathedral and baptistry. The stained glass looked newish. Elaine decided not to climb the tower and couldn't get a refund so she started trying to sell it to the tourists. Most needed two tickets not 1. Finally the guard over by the tower said he'd let 2 go on the single ticket so Elaine got her money back and a couple got to go up for half price. While we were waiting in line I tryed to take this cute little Italian girl's picture but she was very shy. Finally I coaxed her into takeing one of the gold dollar coins that my sister Barb had given me for tipping then she was all smiles.
Elaine went to the cemetery while I climbed. We had 35 minutes at the top.
Great view. The steps were very worn
from the hundreds of years of wear. Back on the ground we headed for the beach about 15k away but we got side tracked when I saw a hugh Saint Gobain factory sign. I thought it might be glass blowing . Tried to get info from the corner bar across the street but they were no help. Then we got lost looking around for an entrance. Finally headed off for the beach. We got there just as the sun was going down.
It was a hugh pile of marble.!
A surfer was out in the cold looking Mediterranean waves. We picked up some souvenir rocks and headed back. Going by the factory again I saw where there was a guard station. We circled around and I went in to talk to them. One spoke pretty good English and I got a phone number I'll try to have Antonio to call tomorrow. We spilled coke and peanuts in the car on the way home. and we got lost for our usual 40 minutes in Florence but finally found our way home.
