The Armchair Traveller

After 4 days in Florence I practised my Italian language skills at the train station and got us tickets to our next Italian destination, and a little over an hour later, after a lovely journey through the Tuscan countryside, we arrived in the town of Pisa where we were going to spend the night. I had pre-booked our accommodation – Villa Theresa – so after leaving Pisa train station we followed the instructions I was given to locate our home for the night.

Once we found our street we were greeted with a large garden wall covered entirely in greenery with a gate in the centre. It reminded me of a book I read as a girl – “The Secret Garden” by Frances Hodgson Burnet – what was behind this garden wall I wondered? Well, when Alfonso, the owner, opened the gate and led us inside it was just as I hoped, a gorgeous little secret garden! We followed the garden path towards the entrance of the villa and along the way Alfonso told us that the garden (and villa) are of great historical importance in Pisa, and that the garden is opened to the public twice a year so everyone can enjoy it.

After being shown our room, which had a lovely view out onto the secret garden, Alfonso showed us what the main sights were and how to get to them, and then recommended a place to get a good lunch. It was about 2pm when we arrived in Pisa and it was also a Sunday, so there was very little option for where to eat and what to see and do since so much was closed.

Our lunch recommendation ended up being perfect. Trattoria da Cicciolo was just around the corner from Villa Theresa and we were the only tourists in there, all the other patrons were local families enjoying a big Sunday family lunch! The menu was all authentic Pisan food cooked and eaten slowly, it was perfect.

Once we had filled ourselves up with food, wine and coffee we ventured out into Pisa to explore the town. We walked towards the Arno River which we then crossed and continued walking on the other side. What struck me about Pisa was the large number of buildings in this small Tuscan town which had the Medici family crest somewhere on them – the Medici really were the ruling family of Tuscany!

Eventually we found our way to what Pisa is most famous for, The Leaning Tower! My first impression of The Leaning Tower was actually how small it was compared with what I had imagined! It is still quite a sight to behold though! There were a lot of tourists around, although not as many as I suspect there would be if you visited in the summer months.

It was here amongst the crowds of this popular tourist sight that I had arranged to meet a friend who lives here – who became our very own local Pisan tour guide I learned a few interesting facts while we walked around the Piazza dei Miracoli, firstly that it is considered bad luck for a student to climb the Leaning Tower, but that it is good luck for a student to rub this tiny little lizard that is carved in bronze relief on the main doors of the Duomo.

We decided not to join the queues and climb the Leaning Tower and also unfortunately we could not enter the Duomo, we could only stand behind a rope at the open doors and look in, so after we walked around and absorbed these impressive sights my friend showed us to the Piazza dei Cavalieri, home to the University Normale (where many a Nobel-prize winning scientist has apparently studied). This was a really lovely little square where all the building façades were interesting to look at. One building in particular had a wonderful large clock in the centre of the facade and according to my firend this building is believed to have featured in Dante’s “The Divine Comedy”.

Unfortunately a little while later we had to say goodbye to my friend and we continued on our exploratoration of Pisa without him. We saw a few other wonderful looking old buildings around that also had a bit of a leaning look to them which made me wonder if maybe the Leaning Tower was actually on a lean at all and whether it is Pisa itself which is leaning

We found a market place that sold mostly food and jewellery and here we picked up some locally produced biscuits to enjoy for dessert with a cup of tea back in our room later. For dinner we just grabbed some slices of pizza from a cafe and then as it was getting dark we wandered down the main shopping street back towards our accommodation.

The most amazing sight to see once the sun went down and the stores closed their doors was how the main street came completely to life! There were old ladies sitting on benches chatting away to each other and watching everyone else in the street; there were also young people gathering together in groups talking with one another and generally everyone looked to be enjoying just being outdoors and seeing one another. Unfortunately the rain started at about this point so the crowds were short-lived and by the time we got into our room a full blown storm was well underway – thank goodness we had got such good weather for earlier in the day when we were exploring!

The rain was heavy, the lightning bright, and the thunder was loud and earthshaking! A serious storm that raged throughout the night, it was very comforting to be in a comfortable bed under a cosy duvet in the shelter of a nice room while all that crazy weather was going on outside.

The following morning the rain was still beating down outside but we were happily enjoying a relaxed breakfast in the conservatory looking out over the garden. Breakfast included freshly made croissants and marmalade made from the oranges grown in their garden, delicious Italian coffee, and even home made yoghurt! A real feast.

With the rain as bad as it was and most of the local tourist attractions visited the day before, we decided to stay at the B&B until we had to catch our train to the airport. We were the last guests to leave that morning and so Alfonso took us on a tour of the rest of the remarkable old building – the double bedroom he showed us had original frescoes on the ceiling, and the furniture in the room was all period furniture – a lot of care and effort had gone into making the rooms comfortable in the modern sense but still true to their origins, it was beautiful.

Pisa seemed to look favourably upon us, because as we were preparing to finally leave Villa Theresa and head to the train station with our suitcases the rain came to a stop and didn’t start up again until we were safely on the train! As our airplane flew out over Pisa in the direction of our next destination (Paris, France) the Leaning Tower of Pisa was clearly visible in amongst all the old orange-coloured Tuscan buildings.

Pisa was a great place for an overnight stay, and the previous 4 days in Florence were magic. I left my heart in Tuscany, and I definitely have it at the top of my list of places I must get back to one day soon.

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