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Pisa, Italy
Monday, Aug 03, 1998

The Leaning Tower

David Murray
2007-02-02 02:58:09

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The Chookmobile was running good until we reached Pisa. As I drove in, I saw the leaning tower and remarked that it was there. We went to the tourist information, got a map, and then the van wouldn’t start. Once again, we rang the local road service people, and they came and picked us up, the difference though, they made us stay in the van on the back of the truck. The man then drove off at breakneck speeds. All of a sudden, he slammed on his breaks, and we were heading for his cab, so I slammed on my breaks as well. Not long after, we pulled over in his yard, and couldn’t understand what went wrong. I think it was the not being tied down which did the trick !!!!! He diagnosed that our fuel pump was shot, so he had another one there and he put it on. Now was the time for the test drive, so off we went with Melanie in the back. Now this man could not speak English. We went straight, then left, then left and we were on this road complete with Italian prostitutes everywhere. I asked in my best Italian where they came from and he said Africa, so I told him that Melanie came from South Africa and he offered her a job. We went back, happy that the van was running fine so we picked up Lucy, found the campground and set up. Also in the campground, was a VW camper, being run by a couple of Aussies by the name of Hendo and Georgie. Being the type of people we are, we went over offering beers and stuff. Just like us, they were up for the beers, so a session was started. In the morning, we went to look at the tower. It was quite amazing seeing it standing there, pity we couldn’t climb it though, so we did the only thing that was possible, we bought the copy which doubles as a light !!!!! We left after seeing that and the Duomo. We drove down the coast, towards Rome. Entering Rome was different. Trying to find the campground was a nightmare, but that was nothing unusual. Once found though, we parked up next to Hendo’s van, and cracked the beers.