among other things italian - the galileo experience

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(written during a weekend trip to italy four years ago while on assignment in munich, germany)

June 2, 2000. Onward to Pisa, Italy. Afternoon.

We were quietly settled on our train seats when someone in uniform asked for our tickets. Confident that we were holding a Eurail pass that could get us anywhere, we handed them out. It turned out that Pisa is not among the stops in our pass. Our lapse resulted in a fine of several thousand lira. They should start getting those passes translated in English because our wallets can no longer afford to suffer another fine. Not to mention our pride.

Learning from our mistake, we immediately purchased a ticket back to Florence as soon as we arrived in Pisa. We’re planning to end our tour with a visit to Rome tomorrow and this time we made sure that we have the right pass. With the tickets ready, we approached the tourist information booth for cheap hotels near the station area and the lady pointed us to a hotel that overlooks the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the town’s only claim to popularity.

Armed with another load of excitement, we walked our way to the hotel. The town was quiet, unlike Venice with its loads of tourists. The locals were on scooters and I suddenly missed the carefree gondolas along the Venetian lagoon. But the complaints about the long walk along Corso Marconi were forgotten as soon as we caught a glimpse of the Tower. We left our bags on our designated room and after freshening up, we were ready to explore the place made famous by Galileo’s experiments.

The leaning tower looked smaller than what I have imagined. Around it are cables that support the tower from further leaning. The sight is really breathtaking - the green grass around the piazza, the bluest sky I’ve ever seen and the church with its numerous carvings that must have said something about the town’s history. Time is slow and life here is bliss.



The piazza is filled with tourists. A Japanese group was taking turns taking photos of each other and they all looked really pleased with their funny poses. It turned out that they wanted their pictures to look as if the tower was leaning on them. Great idea but we don’t have the guts to pose like that, however unlikely the possibility that someone we know will see us.



We continued walking around while enjoying a gellati from the little shops around the piazza. We took of our shoes and sat on the green lawn and talked about marriage and life, love and sex (brought about by the couple smooching a few meters away from where we were) until our stomachs grumbled for food and the sun said its goodbye.


June 2, 2000. Pisa, Italy. Night.

We walked around town and had dinner at a restaurant that serves the most delicious prosciutto pizza I have ever tasted. The Corso Marconi is filled with shops where I saw the dress of my dreams priced to remain as a dream. We went to the park in front of the central station and constantly teased Mac on his taste in music. I could never like Bryan Adams and he could not bear listening to Julia Fordham. The differences that bind.

The night passed by so peacefully as we walked back to our hotel with another gellati cone for a late night dessert. I was thinking that if I ever need to go away and relax, I would definitely consider coming back here. Life in Pisa is unhurried without being boring.



June 3, 2000. Onward to Rome, Italy. Morning.

We had an early start. The train to Florence leaves at 7 and we walked our way back to the station. It was comfortably cold and I felt sad to be leaving while the town is still asleep. But Rome promises a grand last stop to our Italian tour so we boarded our train with big smile on our faces and eyes dreaming of fountains and ruins and churches and domes, among other things Italian.



We arrived in Rome after spending the whole morning on the train. The Stazzionne Termini was bustling with people, all wanting to experience the glory that is still Rome. I had images of Audrey Hepburn’s Roman Holiday in my cinematic mind and I couldn’t wait to set my eyes on its promised beauty. I have heard so much about the ancient aqueducts running around the whole city, giving the fountains their power to be an attraction on their own right. The famous St Peter Square, Spanish Steps, Piazza Novana, and Pantheon … all waiting for my camera, my journal and me.

But Rome is another story.


(I did come back to pisa and rome four years and one week later and this time with my husband for our honeymoon.)

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