Capt. Spanky's off -leash tour Published Oct. 29, 2014 By Capt. Spanky 86th Airlift Wing Public Affairs RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany -- Hey, everybody! I'm here once again to report on my most recent expedition. Like any other day, I was scratching at my human's leg for food when she said two of the most marvelous words in the world: Italy and pizza! Oh how I've dreamt of wrapping my jowls around some delicious pizza straight from Italy. After almost 10 hours of driving, I couldn't hold the excitement in for much longer. Finally coming to a stop my human announced, "Welcome to Pisa!" Thinking she was slurring, I expected to jump out and be surrounded by a town made of pizza and specifi cally the leaning tower of pizza, but what I saw was far better. In front of me stood a beautiful monument towering only 60 meters in the air with a slight tilt -- the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Before entering the tower I learned that the famous bell tower was not purposely built at a lean but began to drift to its side during construction. It made me think about what it would have been like making a mistake people could see 835 years later. Once we fi nally walked up to the tower I was excited to put my fuzzy paw onto that fi rst step, but was halted by the gate keeper. As he stood there arms crossed, he stated no one under the age of 8 was allowed entrance. Flashing my dog tag, he was able to see that in dog years I was more than old enough to climb the shiny marble steps, so off I went trotting up leaving nothing behind but my drool. Once I got to the top vertigo hit hard as I looked down and felt as though I could touch the people attempting to "push" the tower over for a photo. Though a magnifi cent scene, I had to quickly rush down before I lost that morning's kibble. Now on the ground I gazed up at the beautiful masterpiece wondering how I could honor my adventure. Only one thing came to mind. I lifted my hind leg to match the tower's tilt and with pride claimed that small patch of land as my own, then, of course, enjoyed some of the best salami pizza I have ever had in my life.