20 Ridiculous Shots of Tourists "Holding Up" Pisa's Leaning Tower

Ladies and gentlemen, this is how it's done: the classic Holding Up the Leaning Tower of Pisa shot. This one was taken in 2007. But on the day when you finally get to visit the UNESCO World Heritage location near the west coast of Italy, you'll find to your dismay that the scene never looks this pretty. What you find instead is an overcrowded free-for-all, where coachloads of tourists jostle to one up each other for the best vantage points, throwing limbs in each others' faces in pained contortions as they struggle to re-create this souvenir staple. And as it turns out, if you turn a camera on the tourists from any angle that doesn't include the famous tower, everyone looks pretty ridiculous. Tourists, this is what you look like at Pisa.

This security guard isn't trying to hold up the tower. He's chasing all those weird tourists off the lawn.

As a palate cleanser, here's one that's a few notches cleverer than the rest. This is how it's done.

Leaning Tower of Pisa, we love you. It's your admirers who are a little odd.