Keith Haring's House

I sat on one of the benches opposite the mural and kept noticing new details as I looked at it. It's huge, full of great imagery, and still in good shape. I'm a Keith Haring fan, so seeing this work was especially interesting. It was his last mural before he died. Its spot beside the central train station also makes it easy to see while heading toward the leaning tower and central Pisa.

This is a review of Keith Haring's House, not the wonderful mural near this rental apartment. The apartment is airy, with natural light and enough space for a holiday, and it has the basics you need. It's on the third floor of a quiet apartment block, with a lift. The location is handy for travel, close to Pisa Centrale station and within a 20-minute walk of the cathedral complex. Restaurants, convenience stores, pharmacies, and other amenities are nearby. There were several problems inside. The place could have been cleaner, and the sofabed was so badly stained that we covered it with several layers so our daughter could sleep on it safely. We had to stop using one bathroom because the toilet and shower drain were seriously clogged. In the other bathroom, the shower water swung between scalding and freezing without us touching the mixer. The bed creaked with every small movement, and a water apparatus behind boards in one bedroom made distracting noises whenever the plumbing was used. The stay was okay, though it could have been better.

To me, the mural brings modern art into an old Italian city where just about everyone has to take a photo pretending to hold up the famous Pisa Tower. The sights are close together, so it's nice to walk around after getting to Pisa. People can disagree about which modern artists are among the greats, but Keith Harding surely belongs in that conversation. He died a year after this painting was made, so seeing one of his final works felt like a special opportunity to me. It also captured what I love about Italy: its beauty, emotion, art, and spiritual feeling. A lovely meeting of world culture and the spirit of Italy.

Such lovely art, and it's enormous!