Italy with Kids - Collodi and Pisa

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22 Sept 2008

With all the walking from yesterday, we definitely needed some sitting (driving) time, so today it was off to Pisa, with possible stops at Montecatini Terme, Collodi's Pinocchio Park, Lucca, and maybe Carrara. The Pinocchio park was easy enough to find, again following the helpful blue signs for Collodi and then the brown signs for the park. E72 with combined tickets for the nearby gardens, and we were in the park, around about siesta time so most of the activities were shut. We were one of only three families visiting at the time. I imagine it would have been much more fun for the kids if there were more people around, but we took the time to wander around the pretty paths, look at the various sculptures, fountains and displays around the Pinocchio theme and then the kids had a look-go on the various activities. In short: a nice place, entry price is a bit steep, and definitely don't go at the end of season.





Then we visited the Villa Garzoni Gardens just around the corner. My they were impressive! After being thoroughly disappointed with the Boboli Gardens, these were a real treat. Beautifully laid out flower beds, sculptures flanking the paths up the hill, and some interesting water features, with paths that wander off through bamboo thickets and hedges.






So on to Pisa. With some deft navigating and even defter manouvreing, we found a parking place just outside the central wall where the tower and duomo are. So Kylie was directing me around Pisa to get to the parking spot, and I really don't know where we are in relation to the tower et al, so imagine my suprise when after walking a short block past some market stalls there's this set of old-looking brown brick arches in a large wall and through the arches appears this stunning sight in white surrounded by green grass. What the pictures don't often portray, and in this case you probably couldn't realistically represent, is the scale and the immensity of the buildings. Not just the tower, but the cathedral and baptistry are all lined up together. Joseph and Liam were pretty excited .. because of all the market stalls selling souvenirs along the road leading past the buildings. Liam found this really cool crystal with an image of the tower engraved in it for €2, and Joseph was really keen on the large number of scale copies of the tower, ranging from around 5cm all the way up to 50cm (the larger ones are lamps), and in price from €1.50 to €50, depending not only on the size but also the quality (glass and plaster). I managed to talk him out of it, seeing as he'd picked up a smaller one in Rome and we didn't want the extra weight.

Joseph and I booked our climb of the tower for 6:40pm €15 each, about two hours after we'd arrived, and then we wandered the stalls a bit more and had dinner in a restaurant up a side street. I took the chance to take photos of everyone 'holding up the tower', and Liam thought that was pretty cool, so he posed and presented a very original style.

The tower was pretty neat to climb. As expected, the stairs do slope as you're going up, but I found the inclination very similar to navigating the steps up St Peter's Dome. Views were great, and we caught the early sunset.





Then a late drive back to the campground. Kylie opted to drive, and I managed to navigate us completely in the wrong direction away from the autostrade, so we ended up following the inland road which we'd taken on the way out, to Lucca. What Doug doesn't say is that my driving defintely isn't as skillful as his. I haven't got the Italian flair with flexible rules, tiny roads and erratic everyone else! Mind you it was my first experience on the autostrade, as well as it being night. I heard Doug say quite frequently from the back, " you're quite close on the right, there is a wall on the right, give yourself a bit more room".

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