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November 16, 2004

destination :: tuscany

OK, here's a brief synopsis of my trip to italy this summer... pictures are at http://www.wasowski.net/gallery ...

  • Saturday :: Oslo - Pisa

    My flight to Pisa, via London, was with the charming airline company RyanAir, and it was without a doubt the bumpiest, most turbulent flight i have ever experienced. the flight attendants had to hang on for dear life to the handles on the overhead compartments as they walked up and down the isles distributing not-so-reassuring smiles and air sick bags. whatever. arrived in Pisa, retrieved my backpack and then tried to figure out what to do. the tourist offices in Pisa were closed, it being a saturday evening, but i knew that there were two hostels in the town - one by the train station, and one that was a bus ride out of town. i opted for the first one, hopped on a bus to the station and trudged down the shady side of the street until i found the hostel. got a very nice double room with private bathroom to myself. repacked my day pack and then hit the streets. the main street of Pisa down to the river was just abustle of evening activity. the stores had re-opened after their afternoon siesta and the street was packed with tourists wandering in and out of the shops, and locals relaxing in the cool evening breeze on benches and in streetside cafees. i made my way down to the Campo dei Miracoli without a map, and just as i was approaching the square i looked up and saw the top stories of the leaning tower peeking out over the housetops. quite simply amazing! The campo has 4 magnificent buildings; in addition to the precariously off center tower, there is the magnificent Duomo, a Baptistery and the large Camposanto, a large walled-in cemetary. After checking that the tourist office would indeed be open the next day, i meandered back up the streets towards the train station, where i noticed that the pizza restaurant recommended to me by the lady at the hostel was in fact a fast-food pizza stand next to a McDonalds. I headed back down towards the river in search of some real italian food, and ended up with a tasty pizza at a trattoria down the alley from the main street. it was a little strange eating alone at a restaurant, especially since the waiters apparently had nothing better to do than stand and watch me, but whatever... After dinner i wandered back to the hostel, marveled at the size of the blister i already had on my heel and showered and fell asleep.

  • Sunday :: Pisa - Livorno

    Breakfast at the hostel was unimpressive, but i introduced myself to a Vietnamese girl from BC and after checking out of our rooms, we headed off to the train station together. She was going to Siena that day, but I was going to spend the first part of the day exploring Pisa before heading to Livorno. My first stop of the day was at a pharmacy to pick up some calamine lotion – i had gotten a ridiculous number of mosquito bites during the night! Then i went to the information office at the Campo to find out what i should see and do. I had decided that i would treat myself to climbing the Leaning Tower, since last time i was in Pisa the tower was under construction and was closed to tourists. On a whim i asked the man selling tickets what the best time was to climb the tower, and he said that i should go at 8pm; i would get to see the sun set over the town. I decided that that sounded like a great idea, and would therefore return to Pisa Wednesday evening to climb the tower. Went into the Duomo and wandered around trying to identify the frescoes, paintings and sculptures my guidebook was mentioning, and then sat in a quiet corner watching people for a bit. Then had a coffee and a gelato at a charming little café before hitting the streets again; weaving my way in and out of the piazzas and occasionally peeking at my map to see just where i had wandered to. Sadly, the botanical gardens were closed for restoration or something, so instead i parked myself under a tree in a little square and read my book and observed. Compared to the previous night, the streets were practically desolate, all the stores and most of the cafees were closed and only a handful of locals were out and about. Made my way back to the train station and got on the train to livorno, which is about 15mins away, but out on the coast. Upon arriving i managed to get some information as the string of buses i would need to take to get to the hostel. It turned out to be a 20min bus ride and a further 15min walk out of town, up in the hills. Not exactly what i had been thinking. The hostel was in fact a villa, that had regular hotel-like rooms in addition to dormitory rooms for hostelers. Strange. I decided that perhaps i wouldn’t stay the 4 nights i had planned here, and then went off in search of dinner. Met a girl from Germany and spent most of the evening chatting with her, comparing travel stories and experiences.

  • Monday :: Livorno - Lucca

    Friends of the family were vacationing outside of Lucca, and I had made plans to meet up with them. Decided against staying at the hostel in Livorno, so took my backpack with me and made my way back to the train station. Stopped briefly at the tourist information office and decided that perhaps Livorno would be a good place for a day trip later. As soon as I started wandering through the streets of Lucca, I remembered why I had been so enchanted by the town when my mom and i visited a few years ago, and was very glad i had decided to come. met our friends and had a lovely, huge lunch and then we drove out to the beaches at Viareggio. Quite a lovely afternoon - going to the beach is a little difficult when traveling by oneself, so i hadn't really een expecting to go. in the evening they dropped me back off in Lucca and i went to check out the hostel. it turned out to be quite lovely! dropped off my stuff, showered off all the sand and salt and then hit the streets in search of dinner. ended up just buying a gigantic basket of cherry tomatoes which i ate on some steps in the piazza surrounding San Michele, listening to a string quartet play classical music. Love-ly!!

  • Tuesday :: Lucca - Pisa

    First order of business was renting a bicycle and riding around the city's 5 km wall - which is a fabulous was to spend the morning - lots of people to see, a cool ride in the shade, not to mention the many different views of the city. Afterwards i made my way around the shops of lucca until i had gathered some fresh ciabatta, mozarella and some prosciutto, which made a lovely lunch atop the wall. spent a few more hours wandering in and out of the narrow streets, visited a museum of leonardo da vincis machines, and then hopped on a train headed back to Pisa. decided to try my chances on a different hostel, a little further out of town... the hostel was kinda scrappy, but there were a bunch of interesting people there, so the atmosphere made up for the dismal lodging. dinner was a melon, more prosciutto, some bread and a carton of wine (with a plastic flip top!) from the closest food store. sat outside with a handful of people chatting, sharing travel stories and being young until we were chased in by the mosquitoes.

  • Wednesday :: Pisa

    went into Pisa and had a delightful breakfast of biscuits, yogurt and iced-tea on the steps of the duomo, watching the silly tourists : ) you'd think people would find it tacky to have their pictures taken of them either 'pushing' or 'supporting' the leaning tower, but nooooooo....! anyways, took a train to livorno and had a wonderful day exploring the city. then i took a local bus that ran along the coast, and the 9km beach walk, and hopped off at a public beach. spent a very relaxing few hours on the beach, reading and cooling off in the water when it got too hot. made my way back to livorno and then back to pisa, where i had an 8 pm date with the leaning tower. had a delicious last meal at a charming trattoria and then joined the group of 20 or so people who also were climbing the tower. it was a perfect way to spend my last evening - from the top of the tower i got a splendid view of the town and the surrounding hills, and then as the sun set the Campo (which in addition to the fabulous Duomo and the tower, also has a large Baptistery and the Camposanto) was bathed in a surreal combination of colors. ~sigh~ met up with some girls from the hostel and after laying in the grass watching the darkness settle in over the Campo, we walked back to the hostel.

  • Thursday :: Pisa - Oslo

    Dropped my backpack off at the train station and then had a last splendid breakfast of fruit and ricotta in the shade of a tree. did some last minute food shopping and wandering around before heading to the airport and flying home. such a lovely trip; such enchanting towns; so much scrumptuous food; so many fabulous views. all my senses were saturated with the sights, sounds, flavors and aromas of Tuscany.... but i was ready to be back home : )

Posted by lara at November 16, 2004 08:17 PM