The affable but behaviourally disturbed Johannes, whose progressively worsening condition leads to him being admitted to a psychiatric clinic, is terrified of not being able to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa before it collapses. And so he builds his own wooden leaning tower in the clinic grounds. It catches the eye of a little girl whose grandmother is a former ballerina. The elderly lady would love to show her granddaughter the places in Italy that she saw in the course of her career--including the Leaning Tower of Pisa. And so the three set out for Italy--made possible by the fact that the little girl's mother just happens to be Johannes' nurse. But when they fail to return, she has to head south and look for them.