麥克西的世界
高爾夫球，攝影，旅遊，講笑話，寫寫心得，這就是我工作、家庭以外的小世界。
“不到塔頂非好漢”-- 地中海六國遊之十一
Pisa 正好在Tuscany 地區。據說Tuscany 是意大利最美的農村，我曾在攝影書上看過。從港口 Livorno 坐計程車去Pisa ，沿途風光果然不錯，特別是大片大片的向日葵，很可愛，也上相。可惜沒有時間停車下來拍。中午離開Pisa前往Florence。從Florence回Livorno港口的路上，請司機停了一次，在高速公路旁拍了幾張，放在這組。可惜那一畝的向陽葵都“打烊”了。從高速公路走近田野時還摔了一交。
Pisa 是 Pisa 斜塔所在地，也是大科學家Galileo 的出生地，英國的大作家Charles Dickenson也來這參觀過。
到Pisa 廣場後的第一件事是在旁邊平房裏買爬塔的門票，15 歐元一張。斜塔限人限時參觀（好像是每個鍾頭60人)。早買才能節省等待的時間。我有幸買到了票，也有膽爬到了頂層，有在塔頂拍的相片為證。塔裏的大理石樓梯已被踩凹。一走進斜塔，就感覺地不平。站在傾斜的頂層，還真得小心，緊抓著扶手，不敢亂動。很多人爬了一半就放棄了。也有人擔心會不會爬上去，塔就倒掉了。我給他們解釋，一年前，一家中國公司經過兩三年時間給斜塔固定過了，已不再繼續傾斜。倒塌的危險也大大降低。
斜塔所在的廣場內還有教堂等供參觀，但，時間有限，加上來Pisa， 就是奔這斜塔來的。所以，其它都沒進去。
(1) You have to look at the tower from certain angle to see the maximum effects of the leaning. From this angle, you'd be amazed by the degree of the leaning. 從這個角度才能最體現斜塔的傾斜度。
(2) Those on the top have the best view. Most people were too scared or don't have the time to climb to the top. They missed one of the most exciting part of this European trip. To me this is truly an Europe experience! I highly recommend it. 如果你來了Pisa卻沒有爬上這個斜塔，你會後悔一輩子的。
(3) Structurally, I can't believe such a stone construction leaning so much could last so long. 難以相信這座石頭堆起來的斜塔已傾斜了近900年，仍安然地立在那。
(4) I wonder if steel was used inside the tower to enhance it but doubt steel was even invented when it was built 1173 as a bell tower. 1173年建這座鍾樓時，鋼材可能還沒有被發明呢。塔內應該沒有鋼筋結構。
(5a) See the statue on the right? It's a good reference to show how much the tower is leaning. 塔的右邊有一個雕塑，給塔的傾斜度提供了一個參照。
(5b) Here is a closeup of the "wolf baby" statue. The bird was not part of the sculpture. “狼孩”雕塑。
(6) People have left their marks on the narrow stairway going up。幾百年來，整個塔都留下了人的痕跡。
(7) And they left huge marks on the marble stairs after hundreds of years。大理石樓梯也被踏凹。
(8) From the top of the tower, you can see the highest mountain in the Tuscany country。在塔頂看到的風光：紅色的居民樓、黃色的向日葵農田、淡綠色的山巒。
(9) Here is another picture to prove that I climbed to the top of the pisa tower. 這回你該相信我爬上塔頂了吧？右邊是同一廣場內的教堂。
(10) A horse cart ready for services on the ground after that exciting trip to the top of the tower。爬完樓，看到這馬車就想坐一坐。
(11) We saw many sunflower farms that would be great to shoot photos. I made only one stop to one of these farms; unfortunately the sunflowers had already "sunset" when I reached them. Someone told me that these may be matured sunflowers. They didn't have enough energy to face the sun all the time. 從Florence回遊輪的路上，我請司機在高速公路旁停了一次，照了幾張向日葵農田的相片。可惜，這些向日葵已不再是花了，早已成了果實。
(12) Here is a full view, looking like a group of innocent soldiers. To get close to these sunflowers, I slipped and felt hard walking off from the highway to the field. 在我從高速公路走向這些農田時，摔了一跤。所以這兩張相片來之不易。
(13) A full view of the Tuscany countryside, shot from a moving taxi。高速公路兩旁的風景太美了。可惜在汽車裏隻拍到這張較滿意的。下次一定來這Tuscany Country小住一次。
旅遊攝影下一集：Florence
Click here for more Mediterranean pictures
You were there, why you need to be proved??
這些向日葵已經不是花，而是快成熟的種子-滿盤的瓜子，很重的。