Tower of Strength

Over half a year since I knew something was wrong with my body, and here I am with the apparent strength of Samson, holding up the Tower of Pisa. I was here in March of '78 and climbed to the top. Nowadays that's pretty expensive. The first time Jackie saw the tower she refused to walk on the "falling" side of it - thought it would come down on top of her for sure!

Bernice and I are here with Tim and Jackie, and it's been beautiful weather - even dipped our toes in the green waters of the Mediterranean. We've rented a lovely apartment in an ancient stone house in the country, and from there we drive each day to places like Siena, Florence, Volterra, and San Gimignano. Beautiful towns in a place that reminds me of the Holy Land. Maybe because the renaissance painters from this area painted so many Holy Land scenes, and always set them in this kind of landscape?

San Gimignano is a town which was a stop on the pilgrim route from northern Europe to Rome. It became quite rich as a result, and to this day has about 20 tall stone towers built by competing families to show off their wealth! You can see the town from many miles away, as it sits on the top of a hill, and then the towers rise from there.

Italy is the most interesting of all the European nations, and though I've been here often, it still seems like a dream too good to be real.