We have arrived in Pisa!

 

Ciao!

Up this morning about the usual time, even considering we had a super gigantic thunder storm last night about midnight!  We Tucsonans aren’t used to this; it was really quite amazing.  There was so much lightning that there were periods where it was just light out – but not nearly as much thunder as one would have expected. R still mystified.  Lots and lots of wind and rain as well, and our power went out for about 5 – 10 minutes. Thankfully it came back on without us having to do anything – you know, like call the landlord?!

View from the apartment with ground fog!

Beautiful avenue of huge cypress trees

Aquaduct here in Pisa!

Kitchen of apartment

Twin bedded room with nice desk and couch

Living area

Love the tub!

Lovely master bedroom

Beautiful terrace and flowers!

The Arno!

Pedestrian walkway

More central Pisa

Central plaza area

Samosas and pakoras

Rest of the meal!

Showered and dressed and repacked by 7:30 am so, in spite of Robert’s vehement protests about having to walk uphill again, we walked up to the Piazza Grande for some breakfast.  [Note: Some of the streets in Montepulciano and other towns around here pitch up at 20 degrees or so! – R]  Just got coffee (Robert) and hot chocolate (me) with croissants at the local bar/gelateria, which was the only thing open.  Then back to the apartment to finish packing up.  Luca, our landlord, was supposed to come by at 9 to see us off, but when he still hadn’t arrived by 9:25 am, we decided that we needed to get on the road.  So, locked the keys inside the flat, and left a note.  We may still be operating on Italian time, but we needed to be at the apartment in Pisa by 1 pm and didn’t want to be late.

It ended up taking about 3 hours to get here, taking some autostrada and some back roads.  Very nice day, all in all – when we woke up, there was a fair amount of ground fog around, but by 9:30 am it had all burned off.  Truly a lovely drive, yet again.  I’m not sure if we ever before traveled in Tuscany in late May/early June, but I can never remember any area anywhere that just smelled so good all the time!  It’s wonderful!

Got to Pisa about 12:30 pm and except for road work on the street we needed to be on, it was easy finding our way here.  Yuri, the grandson of the apartment owner, was there, and we were able to find parking on the street.  Thankfully, Yuri helped with luggage, as it is on the second floor and of course, no elevator as this is a private residence.

The apartment is fabulous. It has:  An old-time claw-footed bathtub for me, a lovely modern shower compartment for Robert, AND, the most amazing thing – it has SCREENS on windows and doors!!  Yea!  (Screens anywhere are very, very rare in Italy!  The usual done thing is to pull down the blinds and shutters every night to keep out the bad air – which the Italians call: Mal Airea!  I rented the flat months and months ago, and when I went looking for it on-line a couple of weeks ago, the listing had disappeared.  My conclusion was that they were either going to sell the flat, or go for a long-term rental.  My second guess was correct.  We’re the last “short-timers” they will host.  So glad that we could use it this week, as it looks like the opportunity won’t come again!  There are two really large, light-filled bedrooms, a huge bathroom, a laundry room and really, almost a third bedroom, as well as kitchen and dining area.  Oh, and a small balcony off the kitchen, and a lovely patio in back that includes table, chairs, lounge chairs and BBQ grill. Amazing!

Yuri showed us where things were, and gave us apartment details, and then took his leave.  Robert then set up the computer (great WIFI!) and I got us unpacked.  So nice to be able to spread things out.  Looks like there is a wash line on the patio, so can’t wait to see if I can find clothes pegs!  Fortunately, I won’t have to face that issue for a few days.  Also, you can see the top of the Baptistry as well as the Cathedral from the terrace!  We’re just a few minutes walk from the Tower!

By this time, we were both wanting lunch, and I have to admit that we opted for McDonald’s. Tried the one closest to the apartment, but that’s right next to the Leaning Tower – and crammed!  So, went to #2 instead.  That turned out to be inside the train station, but we were able to find a parking place in front, (between three motorcycles) so no problem.

I had my usual Big Mac Combo, and R had their Grand Bacon – which included bacon and melted cheese sauce.  (Mine was better…) After this, we found our way into the main part of the train station, and used one of their machines to get our tickets to Florence tomorrow morning.  (We want to get to the Etruscan Museum on Saturday, so that hopefully we can see the tomb they moved from somewhere…)  I know there will be lots of people there on Saturday, (in Florence in general, I mean) but figured if we got there early, the museum is supposed to open at 8:30 am.  We’ll see! I also want to check to see if the Magnum store that was near the Duomo is still there!  Very important!  While at the station, we were also able to buy some postcard stamps as well as a bus map and a card for 10 bus tickets.  Our plan is hopefully to take the bus to the train station, and back. We’ll see how it works out!  We do have an emergency plan just in case we have to drive.  

However, we are finding that driving anywhere except for the Field of Miracles (where the Tower, Baptistry and Cathedral are) or in the Centro Historico is just fine!  Pisa is a really very nice small city!  After the train station, we were able to find a Carrefour (French-owned huge grocery store) very close to the apartment, and picked up supplies for the week.  Crackers, juice, cheese, salami, prosciutto, and some wonderful looking bresaola.  We’ve decided to have dinner in one night this week, on the patio – our lovely landlady left us a bottle of wine, so we thought it would be great!  Tonight, however, we are going out for INDIAN food! 

Friend Debby asked if we were getting tired of Italian food yet, and the answer is:  YES! I think that’s why we loved E Lucevan le Stelle so much in Montepulciano!  They didn’t serve “only” the typical Italian food, which R summarizes as:  Bruschetta, Pasta and Pizza.  They had wonderful soup and salads, and it was very refreshing having a change. There are also several Japanese restaurants here in Pisa, as well, so we’ll see what works out!  

Will now sit down with R and map out this week!  We have six full days here, and I think we have six day trips out of town planned.  Whew! I still want to be able to be able to spend at least a little bit of time getting to know Pisa, as it looks really lovely!

More later!

m

xxx

Back from dinner at Namaste, an Indian restaurant in the center part of town.  We caught the No. 4 bus easily on our corner; unfortunately, it was going the wrong way.  The good news is that, after we figured it out (with the help of some passengers, who all laughed) we just remained on the bus as it headed in the right direction.  Got off at Mazzini and had only a couple of blocks to walk.  Turns out, we hit Passagiata, where everyone comes out and walks up and down – and this was in the central pedestrian (really!! No cars at all, unlike other so-called pedestrian-only streets we have seen.) part of the city center.  Lots of stores open and a lot of activity going on – it is Friday night, and Pisa is a University town!  

Got to Namaste early, (they open at 7 pm and it was about 6:20) so decided to find a bank first to resupply the old money belt. Then leisurely made our way back to the restaurant.  First people there (really?!) and were given a nice table for two.  We did have to wait a few minutes – until about 7:05 actually, but then were able to order water and a very nice white chardonnay from Sicily, which was excellent.  For dinner, we started with vegetable pakora and veggie samosas.  This was followed by Chicken Tikka and Alou Ghobi (cauliflower and potatoes in a curry-type sauce) with Masala rice and incredible garlic naan.  All in all, it was wonderful.  We really do love Italian food – but just not every single day!  

Finished up about 8:30 pm and headed down to the river and the bus stop for #4.  Finally came, and we took it to the train station, which is the end of the line.  Figured we could do what we did earlier, but no – apparently the #4 stops running at 8:35, and this particular vehicle had an identity change into a #22.  So, across the street we went, to catch a #21 which supposedly would get us home.  Well…if you ever have run into a kamikaze bus driver, you will know what I mean.  (The last one we had was years ago in Hong Kong, when we were sitting on the upper deck of a double decker bus heading down the hill from Victoria Peak – and the bus driver was trying to take the top off the bus!  I remember LOTS of trees…)  This guy was absolutely CRAZY!  I mean, we told him where we wanted to get off, but that didn’t really help too much – drove like a bat out of wherever; we had to put our feet up on the seats in front of us, just to brace ourselves! Finally stopped the bus some blocks from the apartment, but within walking distance.  Unreal!  Now we’re trying to find what time the bus starts running on Saturdays, but without much success!

More tomorrow!

m

xxx