Italy Travel Diaries: A Slice of Pisa

I had so been looking forward to a good night’s sleep after a day and a half exploring Florence. Didn’t happen.  It seems some of our fellow residents decided to take the “treat the lounge as your own home” mandate quite literally by returning at 2am, slamming every door to announce their entrance, pouring themselves drinks (whilst loudly clattering every glass available) and settling down for a good chinwag, full of loud guffawing.  Mr Fletche and I don’t want to be party poopers, but we do start to google “shut the f**k up” in a number of languages*

Eventually, our neighbours decide it’s a suitable time to finish the party and we are able to get a little sleep without the need us to practice our newfound phrases. 

*In Italian by the way, it seems to be loosely translated as “chiudi il culo”.

So we’re a little grumpy when we share our breakfast table the next morning.  Even more so when my freshly boiled kettle of water is stolen by a guest whose tea requirements are obviously more important than mine (“Yes, I’m clearly just standing by this kettle for fun… no, please you go ahead…I’ll just boil the next one shall I?”)

Still, it’s our final day in Florence, which we decide to celebrate by, well, leaving Florence.  Despite the ominous clouds threatening rain we head off to the station, where we purchase tickets to Pisa, and also our tickets for the next leg of our journey tomorrow.  All aboard the “Pisa Express”.

We’re halfway to Pisa when the skies darken and there’s a low rumble which can be heard even over the sound of the train.  Lightning flashes across the sky, and the rain comes down so heavily we fear that we maybe canoeing the rest of the way.  Luckily I’ve packed my trusty €5,00 ombrello. 

Despite the rain, we decide to make the 2km walk to Piazza dei Miracoli rather than the bus. Verona has scarred us forever. We may never take an Italian bus again.  Our route is lined by sellers, who have packed away their selfie sticks for now, and are brandishing umbrellas in our faces.  I have an umbrella.  I do not need another umbrella. Yet every unscrupulous vendor tries to convince us that what we really need is another umbrella.  We’ve finally successfully run the gauntlet, and reward ourselves with a cappuccino at Lo Sfizio on Borgo Stretto.  The rain finally eases so we take the final stroll towards the famous Leaning Tower.

The tower gets all the press, but the Cathedral and Baptistry are just as impressive, and the famous leaning campanile should be considered as a part of this complex.  On its own, well, it’s just a tower that’s slightly wonky.  In fact, if you tilt your head slightly, it doesn’t even lean.  It is flanked by a lovely emerald green lawn, which is unfortunately fenced off – it would be a great place to sit and just for a while, but this doesn’t seem encouraged. Pisa has sadly become something of a tourist trap, aiming to get you in and out in the quickest possible time.

We’re excited to discover a small market just beyond Miracle Square, hoping for local arts and crafts and authentic Italian cuisine.  Instead we’re faced with nigh on 50 identical souvenir stalls, all selling fridge magnets (and you know how much I love a fridge magnet), mugs, t-shirts and all manner of tat; aggressive watch and sunglasses sellers; and a McDonalds and Burger King for a non-authentic culinary experience.

We make our way back to the station, via Lo Sfizio for a couple of salads and a lunchtime drink.  We get to the station (having forgotten to check the return train times when we arrived) and find we’ve missed our return train by one minute.  If only we’d taken one less picture of me trying to prop up the tower we may have made it.  An hour’s wait, and we’re finally heading back to Florence.

We spend a little time packing up our suitcases before heading out for our final evening.  We make that walk down to the river once more.  This time, as we cross the river on Ponte Santa Trinita, the soft early evening sunlight bathes the Ponte Vecchio in a golden glow, and the river is almost still, leading to an almost perfect reflection.  This is the most beautiful we’ve seen Florence. A kind fellow tourist offers to take our picture for us.  This is one of the few pictures we have taken together and proves that we were actually there together.  Although on closer inspection, the photo looks like we have been superimposed on some sort of “perfect Florence scene” background screen…

Remembering our lovely meal from the first night we try and find the square.  We know we headed in this direction, and then we sort of headed off in that direction… Eventually we concede that we have no idea where we are or where we’re trying to get to.  A quick glance of the notes on my phone would have given us exactly the right restaurant name and location. 

By the time we’ve circled round to Piazza di San Firenze for a third time, we decide we may as well eat at one of the restaurants there.  Osteria De’Peccatori looks inviting, but there are no tables free. We’re beckoned over by the beaming waiter who magics up a table for two for us.  And we are glad we decide to eat here. The food is excellent and all the waiters look as if they have been waiting tables for at least sixty years. Best of all, the two meals, wine, beer and limoncelli come to just €35,00… what a bargain!  We wave ciao to our new best friends, and weave our way back to our hotel for the final time.  Our noisy neighbours appear to have checked out so hopefully there’ll be no late night festa in the lounge tonight…