From Verona we took the Fi.Pi.Li highway and broke off a little later to drive by the small roads that wound through little Tuscan villages with their own little secret treasures.
Because we were tired and had very little time to make Pisa by daylight, we decided to skip the renaissance town, Lucca. But our detour had rewarded us with this red-bricked curio in its stead.
Sunflower fields and vineyards, hillside olive groves and overgrown cypress trees that framed modest farmhouses all glowed in the golden fire of the Tuscan sun.
And was it also the fierce sun that caused these people to become petrified, with their arms suspended in the air?
You know why.
It's the spot where Galileo purportedly experimented on free-fall acceleration. Of course it's famous! Incidentally, it leans too!
After years of wishing, I'd finally seen and made dutdot the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
It was one of the places I'd hoped to visit when I first came to Europe in '07, but I only saw the red tiled roofs and the marigold-yellow houses of the Tuscany region from the air as I jetted from Rome to Florence. All I could think when I was finally face to face with it was, "At last, at last, at last."
Hurray for marriage!
We had coffee in front of the cathedral while watching the worst ventriloquist performance on earth - and I wish we had a choice. An aging woman took a video of the ventriloquist for some reason, and the man pointed at her and called her a thief for not dropping a coin in his hat first. Sheesh.
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| H checking if the food is edible. This is how we decide where to eat. Not too discreet, I know :) |
It was a relief to walk around when we'd finished our drinks, so we could see some of the splendor of this old city.
Pisa is a maritime canton, providentially blessed with two intersecting rivers that empty into the Mediterranean Sea. In its prime, it was a force to be reckoned with. Its fleets controlled the Mediterranean and their bounty was used to build the impressive Piazza Del Duomo.
We were having a lovers' tiff so no one was in the mood for taking pictures when we got to the Arno. But the gothic churches were delightful, and the mostly romanesque buildings were striking to behold.
The typical Tuscan apartments were charming, too.
Before dark, we found a camping site at the Pisa marina, just behind the woods. To go to the beach, we had to pass through a posh Bali-style bar with cushions and candles in the sand.
The waves crashed violently against the breakwater. While we were changing into our swimsuits, the waiter came by and told us not to swim past the man-made cove because the sea could suck us in and spit us into the rocks.
Point well taken. It's a good thing he came over because H was in a sporty mood.
After the swim we pitched the tent and started on dinner.
I took out the stuff we bought in the supermarket that morning, after we dropped my cousin off at the office. Surprisingly, there was still some Boy Bawang left.
It was a tiring day for H; he drove from Milan to Verona to Pisa. I took a peek at the milage and we'd traveled almost 2,000 kilometers since Tuesday. I could feel the toll it was taking on him. We had been on the road for a week; and when he's not driving, he's walking with me the rest of the way. I didn't even ask him to do all of this (aside from groveling about passing by Pisa of course), he just thought it would make me happy. And if by staying happy I make him happy, then logically, wedded bliss should not be so hard to come by... but it is. It really is. Because after a year of living with him, I've realized that logic has no place in a marriage.
Thankfully, the petty argument in Pisa didn't last as long as some of our previous squabbles. After a year, we've begun to learn how to give way. I noticed that H was trying hard to work on his temper, and I was trying to be patient and understanding. I think our fights last longer than they need to because we are both too proud to relent when we get emotional. Older couples told us someday we'll be too tired to care who's right, who's wrong, and who said what in the first place.
The trees in the campsite mournfully hunched away from the sea, after a lifetime of being pushed away by cold mistrals and violent squalls. They lean just like the famous tower in Pisa, bending from its heavy load, sinking lower to the ground with each passing day... While I do think sometimes you have to give in to someone when the fight is just not worth having, I hope we'll never be too old or too tired to argue -- because when you bend, you just don't care anymore.
Up Next: Florence + The Machine
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logic has no place in marriage. korams!!!
ReplyDeleteCorollary: Marriage can validate Gödel's incompleteness theory #1 that goes, more or less, that logic is limited -- There are statements that are true but cannot be proven to be true.
ReplyDeleteEx. I was completely right that day -- but even with the overwhelming evidence, I can't prove I was right! Matigas ang ulo ni H! Pero nangangahulugan bang marriage is a fallacy? Mwehehe. Feelingera lang :)