February 2015 - Italy - Pisa

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Pisa... Wow! I love Italy and Pisa was on the places to see list mainly for the leaning tower, it is remarkable how much it leans and stays standing!

In my good wisdom I decided to embark on a journey of independance to Pisa, I decided to travel alone... I have never travelled abroad by myself and felt an awe of empowerment, till I got there and thought why the hell did I think this was a good idea! I've actually got no one to chat to or enjoy this scenery with. Just so you know I do have friends, just to put that out there! I once read that living life means taking risks and trying new things... I tried and to be honest I just kept thinking that someone was going to kidnap me! At one point I had an in my head pep talk and slap, 'not everyone is out to get you.' With all that in mind I am proud that I did it, it was a good break and gave me time to relax and think about myself for a few days, however, it's not for me. I miss chatting to people and sharing my whacky thoughts and ideas.

I booked to stay in Il Tuscano B&B it is a traditional Italian house with three million steps to climb to the room but it was clean and quiet. Now first off I didn't realise it was a shared bathroom, kitchen space, so as soon as I walk in the lady shows me round says something in Italian, I smile and nod. Off she goes and I go to the toilet with the door wide open... Thank god no one else was actually there and I read the welcome pack after the toilet as showering could get awkward with the door open!

Pisa airport is located really close to the city which makes the transfers easy. There are plenty of taxis, buses and trains to chose from. There are ticket booths as you come in to the arrival area where you can get tickets to Florence, Pisa central among others. A taxi costs about €10 to the centre, I looked at online transfers and these were ridiculously over priced.

Before going to Pisa I did read that there isn't a lot to do except seeing the learning tower, and I hate to agree. In my mind it would be full of places to see which it is but it is mostly churches and if your not into that i recommend a day trip or a short break.

The leaning tower is situated in The Camp dei Miracoli and it's beautiful. I have seen many squares/Piazzas in Rome, Venice, Sorrento etc etc and nothing compares to the grandness of this one. The green grass highlights the White buildings and the beaming sun makes it look so clean you would hardly believe it was built hundreds of years ago. The tower was famously used in the 16th century by Galileo to test falling masses and is now used as a viewing platform for tourists to see over the city. It costs around €18 to go up (£14), in February I didn't think it would be busy but there were groups of tourists drifting in and out all day so in the summer months I can imagine hoards of people. That in mind if you go in the warmer months I recommend you book the tower tour as the ques will get long and only a certain amount of tickets are sold daily. I decided that I wouldn't go up the tower as I have an Irrational fear of falling off and actually testing Galileos theory of motion!

To enter the sites you need to purchase a ticket, the cathedral is free but you still need to get a ticket. I opted to see the baptistry and compo santo which cost €7. I would of liked to have seen the Museum Opera Duomo but it was shut, never mind.

The catherdral is impressively huge when you stand outside and even more inside. The paintings and sculptures are beautiful especially the engravings on the pulpit. The celing is dripping in gold and it is truly remarkable how they made these buildings so massive and so beautiful. There is a lamp near the pulpit which is named Galileos lamp, apparently he sat and watched it swinging in the breeze which aided the theory of pendulum.

The baptistry was my next stop and it was ok the acoustics are good as I found out when the guy taking the tickets came in and sang a few notes, I decided not to clap as you have to be quiet so I smiled politely and a little awkwardly and went upstairs! Upstairs and looking down you can see how impressive this building is plus you get a nice view of the cathedral and tower. It was nice but if you want to save some moneys it can be missed.

The campo santo, in English... The cemetery, it's not as morbid as you might think . It's very calm, quiet and peaceful inside. A lot of the original structure and sculptures were destroyed in WWII and restoration completed in 1979. There are many tombs as you walk under foot with some dating back hundreds of years with others more recent. I did wonder how much it would cost to be buried here but had no one to share this thought with!

After looking around the site for most of the morning i headed towards the river, it's not far on foot to cover most of the city centre. I wanted to see the Santa Maria Della Spina, unfortunatly the building was covered in scaffolding and metal fencing I was disappointed as I heard the outside is very decorative. However I managed to see a few bits thought the fence!

To me Pisa is safe to walk around, you can easily walk down small streets then stumble upon historical buildings, statues, fountains and tiny piazzas. There are plenty of coffee shops and places to eat all over the place, although around the tower it can be expensive. If you like shopping there are plenty on Via G Oberdan. These are 'normal' shops not like the stands around the tower! I was lucky enough to walk through and smell the strong coffee and hear the music of a busker playing his violin, very atmospheric. On one of my many strolls I came across the Roman baths, I got a little excited but it was disappointing the area was covered in rubbish. There was an information board but could see it hadn't been well looked after.

Pisa is a lovely city visit for a short time. If you drive through or rush you will never have that feeling of relaxing and soaking in the sites and the history. My advice is take some time to relax, find out about the city as the history is massive and best of all take someone with you to share the experiences.

Top Tips for Pisa

- Don't book a transfer to the city centre it's well over priced.

- If you stay longer than a few days go out of the city and enjoy the other areas e.g. Florence and Lucca

- Eat and drink in restaurants further away from the tower it's cheaper

- Bring sunglasses no matter the time of year (I thought I wouldn't need them, I did!)

- Don't buy from the African street sellers it is illegal, if the police see you could be fined over €1000

- Eat the ice cream

- If you go in the summer pre book going up the tower of Pisa, it will save a lot of time and disappointment if you can't get a ticket on the day.

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Photos

Santa Maria Della Spina
Covered in scaffolding

Fiume Arno
River running through Pisa