Only some of us went to the top of the tower - 300-something steps worth and yes, even the steps lean. The guys did have a game that night, so they stayed at ground level and bought some souvenirs while eating something for pregame. The view from the top was quite nice, though, and well worth the trip up. If you don't like heights or have bad balance, I would not recommend this trip up.
Even though we were only in Pisa for a short time, we did get a quick tour from Carlotta. I think I surprised her by taking her picture. Bringing her up does remind me that every time we tell someone from Milwaukee they say "Ahhhh, Happy Days!" Carlotta sounded like she was a big fan of The Fonz when she was a kid.
From Pisa it was on to a 45-minute drive to Liverno for Friday's game. Livorno is a city of about 160,000 situated on the shores of the Ligurian Sea. We did get to see the waterfront a bit on our way into town, where we also got to see the candidates for Miss Livorno being driven around town in convertibles. For those that followed the live blog during the game, you also know those same candidates came to the game for the second half. What none of you know is that those were the people that presented the exchange of gifts to our guys after the game. We do have some video of that we'll get up at some point. Here was the gym in Livorno.
The trip back to Florence after the game Friday night was about 90 minutes, and then some did a little last-minute shopping Saturday morning before an 11:30 a.m. departure for Forli. Fabio warned us the trip to Forli could be filled with traffic, and he was not kidding. It was slow moving much of the way as we climbed up and up. At least that did allow for the chance to get some decent pictures while we were slowed or stopped on the bus. It is beautiful countryside.
The drive did flatten out once we got to Bologna, looking a little more like driving through rural Illinois or Indiana.
There was also a big traffic jam at one point thanks to a car with a flat tire in the right lane. And, if the scenery wasn't your thing, Million Dollar Baby was the movie choice, after Fabio gave the group a reminder about Clint Eastwood's history in the Spaghetti Westerns made in Italy.
In the end, the group rolled into Forli about 2:30 p.m., with a pregame meal waiting at a local hotel. The meal of pasta and chicken (hey, did they check our menu for regular season pregame?) was provided by the local club, and doing it at a hotel allowed some space in the lobby for the guys to relax before we headed to the gym.
By now, you probably know it was a very good game and Panthers pulled out the win. From there, it was back on the bus for the 2 1/2 hour drive to Venice, which was in the dark and looked like any other nighttime interstate drive. We did watch Blues Brothers on the drive, though. Did anyone on the bus ever think they would be sitting on a bus heading toward Venice watching Blues Brothers? Arrival into Mestre, just across from Venice, came just before 11 p.m. and everyone went scrambling to find a little food before wrapping up for the night.
A full day of touring Venice awaits tomorrow, as the group leaves by boat at 11 a.m.
