Our tour bus passes through the wide-open countryside of Tuscany, with its biscuit-coloured fields and slender, Dr. Seuss-like cypress trees, when we catch our first glimpse of the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
The famous bell tower, with its precarious tilt, can be seen beside the Pisa Cathedral, founded in 1064, and the round-shaped Pisa Bapistery. Together they make up the Square of Miracles, which many say is Italy’s most impressive square and thanks to the Leaning Tower of Pisa its most photographed.
When viewed from a distance, the monuments, known the world over, seem strangely out of place standing alone in the flat landscape.
I would have assumed this tourist honeypot, attracting more than five million visitors annually, would be surrounded by huge urban sprawl. But I was wrong. The population of Pisa is approximately the same as that of Victoria, about 90,000, and the area nearby seems more rural than urban.
Our Viking Cruises tour guide also corrects other misconceptions I have about this Tuscan treasure, like the fact the Leaning Tower of Pisa isn’t the only building here that leans.
“The cathedral leans, the baptistery leans and the tower leans a lot,” says our guide, who adds they were all built on spongy ground, and while the architects of the cathedral and baptistery are known, the architect of the tower is not. Apparently, he never wanted his name attached to this work, that began leaning even before completion.
Today, thanks to a decade-long stabilization project, completed in 2001, the tower’s lean has been reduced from a 5.5-degree slope to a 4-degree slope. Engineers now believe the monument will last another two centuries before more work is needed to stop it from toppling over.
Today, visitors are allowed to climb the 251 steps, up its corkscrew staircase, to reach the top of the white marble tower. And while tickets to go inside during the busy summer season are nearly impossible to get, the queue today is manageable and takes less than half an hour the day we visit in early December.
My daughter and I make the most of our time at the Square of Miracles by also getting a ticket to see inside the treasure-packed cathedral, that still holds services daily. Afterwards, our guide directs us to the best place to get that all important vacation shot of us seemingly holding up the Leaning Tower of Pisa with one hand.
Pisa is our first shore excursion on an eight-day journey with Viking Cruises, on the popular “Iconic Western Mediterranean” route, with an itinerary that includes visits to four countries — Italy, France, Monaco and Spain.
During our cruise we will visit the cities of Pisa, Florence, Nice, Eze, Monte Carlo, Marseille and Barcelona, and have just one sea day, where I spend my time at an enrichment talk learning more about the region.
We started the cruise in Civitavecchia, Italy (about a hour and 20 minutes from Rome), where some of the passengers did a two-day pre-extension to explore the city.
We disembarked in Barcelona, but instead of flying immediately home, we opted to do a two-day post-extension with Viking that will give us more time in this vibrant city — the second largest in Spain.
The 930-passenger Viking Neptune ship is significantly smaller than other major cruise ships so it’s able to enter smaller ports — like our first port of call, the charming city of Livorno, Italy, where cruise ship guests can walk 15 minutes to the centre of town.
Livorno is also the jumping off point to Pisa and Florence. With the former we went on the cruise line’s included excursion, but in Florence we took the full-day shore tour that includes a three-course lunch.
With Viking Cruises all guests receive an included shore excursion at every port or they can opt to pay extra for a specialty tour that may include entertainment, a meal or a unique experience like an art or cooking class, for instance.
In Florence we chose the art and architecture tour that brings us to more UNESCO World Heritage sites, including a quick pass entry to see Michelangelo’s 17-foot high Statue of David, carved out of an abandoned block of marble between 1501 and 1504. Another highlight of the tour is lunch in the historic centre of Florence, enclosed within the old medieval walls that surround this part of the city. Here, narrow streets lead to the city’s most important landmark — the Florence Cathedral, completed in 1434 with marble panels in shades of green and pink with white borders. After the walking tour through Florence with our Viking guide, we are given two hours on our own to further sightsee or shop.
And since this is December, the time of European Christmas markets, we are happy to learn our meeting place will be just outside the Florence Christmas market in the heart of the city.
In December many cruise lines, including Viking, have specific cruises to bring guests to Christmas markets. While the Iconic Western Mediterranean cruise is not one of those specific Christmas cruises, we end up having some free time to experience these seasonal outdoor markets during our time in port — one in Florence, another in the Old Port of Marseille. And during our post-extension in Barcelona we returned to architect Antonio Gaudi’s masterpiece, the Sagrada Familia, to visit its Christmas market located just behind the basilica.
While the French Riviera was fascinating — with a glimpse into the past when Monaco was ruled by Prince Rainier III and his American bride Grace Kelly — Barcelona was my favourite stop because of its whimsical architecture and colourful culture.
As a fan of architect Antonio Gaudi’s imaginative and revolutionary construction, inspired by nature, it was a wonderful opportunity to spend more time exploring four of his works, classified as World Heritage sites (he has seven in total).
Besides the amazing Sagrada Familia, the largest unfinished church in the world scheduled for completion on the 100th anniversary of Gaudi’s death in 2026, we also visited Park Guell, and two private residences designed by Gaudi — Casa Mila and Casa Batllo, which are conveniently close to one another in the centre of Barcelona.
We spent the most time taking advantage of the gold pass we bought to explore Casa Batllo, also known as the House of Skull and Bones. Here, we enjoyed a drink on the rooftop patio looking out to the home’s undulating roofline, which is said to depict a slain dragon, with a sword buried in its back. This is just one of many fascinating features of this remarkable home.
Guests who do a Viking cruise extension are provided with accommodation, two breakfast meals and an included excursion. In the case of Barcelona, we were given an excellent overview of the city that did not repeat our earlier included tour while still on the cruise. Our hotel The Nobu Hotel, located near the bullring in Barcelona, had stylish and comfortable rooms and panoramic city views. It felt like we were staying at one of the city’s most luxurious hotels, which was in keeping with what we had grown accustomed to on the Viking Neptune.
While I love an excursion to better understand the culture of the places I visit, it was always a treat to return to the ship, with great food and plenty to do on board. Viking Neptune has two swimming pools, including an aft deck infinity pool, a Nordic spa that includes a snow grotto and an Explorer’s Lounge, spread out over two decks to name just a few of the places to hang out when at sea.
If you go
Viking’s eight-day Iconic Western Mediterranean tour visits four countries and includes five guided tours, meals and wine at lunch and dinner. You can arrange your own flights or the Viking Cruise booking agents can do it for you. If purchasing airfare through Viking the ship transfers are complimentary. For more information, visit vikingcruisescanada.com
Kim Pemberton was hosted by Viking Cruises, which didn’t review or approve this story.
