It’s been a tough Monday getting back into the swing of things after our weekend away. Truthfully I’d much prefer to have spent my Monday relaxing in a piazza in Florence, sipping wine and eating antipasto.
We flew into Pisa airport late on Friday and on Saturday we spent the day in Pisa. In the morning we went looking for some geo-caches, before most of the town had woken up. We wandered through the old town and eventually ended up where all tourists in Pisa end up – at the Leaning Tower. Yes it does lean, quite a lot actually. We laughed at all the funny contortions of tourists as they took cheesy photos pretending to hold up / kick down the tower, and then we took some cheesy pics of our own 😛
We spent the remainder of the day exploring the main street, doing a spot of shopping and eating some gelato – yum! Meals were an adventure as neither of us know any Italian. It was worth the effort to venture out of the tourist area to eat, we made a point of going to a place without an ‘English’ menu for dinner. Ordering was hit and miss but overall led to some good food.
Feeling that we’d exhausted all Pisa could offer us on Saturday we decided to take the train to Firenze (Florence) on Sunday. It was a good day to be on the train as it rained heavily for a lot of the day. From what we saw of Florence in between downpours it seemed like a beautiful city. Looking out over the river Arno and walking over the Ponte Vecchio was a highlight for me.
We took the train back to Pisa in the afternoon ready to catch our flight home. Photos from the weekend are in our gallery.
Over the weekend I found the slow, relaxed pace of life a little… frustrating. Shops not open when I wanted them to be and restaurants still empty at 8pm when we wanted to eat. A two day visit isn’t really enough time to settle into the ‘go slow’ that would make Tuscany so appealing on a longer more relaxing vacation. I’m happy with the small taste we had but can definitely see potential for a long lazy holiday there in the future – sipping wine and reading a good book, soaking in the ambiance… bellissimo!
Comment from Wendy (Mum) on 2009-03-31
What a stunning gorgeous sounding place. I love Italian food so could almost taste it in your blogg. What a shame I couldn’t be in your suitcase.
Comment from Gill on 2009-03-31
And get your picture drawn in the Piazza!
Comment from Mark on 2009-04-02
Yes certainly a change of pace with the siesta at lunchtime (the best part!) and later dining in the evening.