"Eyeless in Pisa" Pisa by CliffClaven

Pisa Travel Guide: 1,384 reviews and 3,892 photos

The first time old Cliffie saw Pisa, he didn't.

It had all started a couple of days earlier when old Cliffie, hurrying through the back streets of Naples between teaching appointments, spotted a small group of people behaving oddly at the end of a side street. With his usual intrepid curiosity - not to say, reckless stupidity - old Cliffie ventured to the end of the street. Amid the group cowering against the wall, a frail grandfather was covering the heads of his sobbing grandchildren with trembling hands while the mother wailed and called on the Madonna for help.

Definitely intrigued, old Cliffie stuck his head round the corner to see a mob of students, faces hidden by red scarves and red bandanas, glaring and howling at a squad of riot police, visors down, shields up, with tear gas launchers at the ready.

And then it all went wrong for old Cliffie. A wildly thrown rock careened off the wall and struck him just above the eyes. With glasses shattered and blood pouring over his shirt from a head wound, old Cliffie was rushed to the nearest hospital, where a quick examination revealed splinters of glass floating on the eyeball. He was lucky: the glass could have been driven into the eye.

It was Flavia who suggested, later that day, that old Cliffie should accompany her on a visit to her brother in Pisa. And that's how he came to be wandering around Pisa, without glasses and a patch over one eye, hopelessly trying to make out a vague shape that may have been the Leaning Tower.

Eyeless in Pisa at the Tower with Flavia.

Last visit to Pisa: May 2002
Intro Written Sep 10, 2002
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Reviews (8)

I'm a little teapot..... Things to Do (3)

Little Miss Claven stared up at the statue of Giuseppe Garibaldi - the guy who united Italy in the middle of the 19th... more travel advice

Hotel Francesco Hotels (2)

Another hotel close to the Campo dei Miracoli is the Hotel Francesco in Via Santa Maria, the street which runs south... more travel advice

Pisa International Airport Transportation (1)

Pisa International Airport makes it sound very grand, but there are services to only about ten or so destinations around... more travel advice

Leonardo di Pisa Local Customs (1)

Fibonacci, also known as Leonardo di Pisa, was the son of a Pisan customs official. He spent much of his early life... more travel advice

Restaurants (1)
Ristorante La Buca

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Comments (12)

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uglyscot Jan 21, 2007 at 10:31 AM

i just can't get enough of your pages,Old Cliffie. I'm a little teapot....
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JetlagCity Sep 24, 2004 at 8:33 AM

Wow, glad to hear you made it out of that mess with your sight intact!! Interesting that it was a Pisan who made the Arabic numeral system popular in the west, never knew that.
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kittyzhaojin May 13, 2003 at 2:41 AM

Breathtaking experience. You are lucky!!! Good info Thanx :)
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Ginaravens Apr 2, 2003 at 2:15 AM

Such bittersweet adventures in Pisa!
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Sarita76 Mar 21, 2003 at 3:14 AM

What a luck!!!
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MATIM Mar 17, 2003 at 1:22 PM

I hope to visit Pisa this summer:)
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craic Feb 24, 2003 at 7:08 AM

What was the Tower actually built for?
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syllybabe Oct 22, 2002 at 7:11 AM

I didn't get to see the tower either...kinda...and I was there when there were no other tourists around.
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iandsmith Oct 1, 2002 at 5:13 AM

Don't you ever have a normal trip? I've helped balance your stars, how could those before me be so cruel?
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herzog63 Sep 29, 2002 at 10:06 PM

What a way to be welcomed to ol Pisa!! Always enjoy the stories!!