Pisa
Even though it was our last day in Italy, we decided not to the rush off in the morning and instead take our time at breakfast. Cristina and Mario offered a generous breakfast including: fruits, toast, meats and cheeses, yogurt, cereal and a breakfast tea cake in a lovely sitting room/dining room with many beautiful paintings and family photos.
Iacopo, our host, emailed suggestions for our day and we began with the first: a drive to Marina Pisa.
Road closures, time to find an alternate route – no bother!
Standing and exploring a bit on the rocky beach with the sunshine and blue skies was grand!
We read that Pisa is much more than its Leaning Tower…so, we headed into town to see the Tower and city for ourselves.
Pisa, a Tuscan port city, was prominent until about 1200. Even after a naval defeat and the port filling up with silt, the city maintains its importance with its University and Field of Miracles, where you can find the famous tower.
The Piassa dei Miracoli consists of the Cathedral, the Baptistery, the Leaning Tower- which is really the Bell Tower and the Churchyard.
We all know Emmie has a bit of an obsession with climbing to the top of towers!! How could she and I resist climbing such a famous object? So, bought tickets to do so. Our entrance time for the Tower was not for another 45 minutes, time to explore the magnificent cathedral!
Our favorite cathedral we visited this trip. Stunning!
Time to climb…
It was amusing to watch tourists of all ages and from various corners of the world attempt to capture the quintessential image of holding up the Tower. Emmie wanted to give it a go while we waited to rendezvous with Scott, Grace and Mom. Perhaps a third try would have helped.
Meandering around Pisa, we noticed the university student atmosphere, which we recognize well from State College. Several students seemed to be on break from class or simply meeting where we grabbed a little lunch.
Graffiti revealed students’ causes and local sentiments on many building sides.
We got a kick out of this note on the river’s edge.
The rain seemed to come and go despite the forecasted clear skies and several of the shops were unfortunately closed for the afternoon (like siesta in Spain). We voted to return to Casa Formica for some downtime.
Cristina brought us some well appreciated tea and biscuits in the sitting area outside our rooms while Emmie took a turn on their piano. We even had a few remaining cookies from our lunch spot, Ricciarelli, and a few other almond, pignoli and chocolate treats. Cristina was delighted to hear Emmie play. Shortly after our tea, we changed to wine as we needed to finish our opened bottle that would not travel home with us.
Emmie got to know a few of the cats on the premises. I think there were about eight. We love this shot of Emmie talking with the black cat that Emmie named…
Only this cat wanted our attention and to get into our rooms.
It was nice to meet Icoco after having all our email correspondence. He and his parents invited us to share a glass of local wine on the terrace which was lovely; we chatted, managing as best we could with the language. Love times like these!
Spaghetteria ir Tegame was an ideal spot for our last meal in Italy as its focus was Pasta! We feasted on more pasta than we could possibly eat. Emmie was thrilled to spy the chefs making fresh pasta, “you can see the pasta drying on racks; they are not just taking it from the package like we do…”
~And of course trips must come to an end. All that was left after our breakfast at Casa Formica was to head to the airport and head home. Delays due to weather in Dublin gave us more time at the Pisa airport, and still we were back home by early afternoon. Fantastic trip and memories with Mom/Grandma! Arrivederi, noi ti amiamo I’Italia