Pisa, Lucca, Florence and cheesy photos
Thanks for the wonderful feedback. It’s always so nice to
hear from fellow travellers. Just FYI this trip took six months of planning –
critiquing numerous guide books, lots of visits to the library and haunting the
Trip Advisor forums. It may seem like I answer a lot of questions on Trip Advisor but that’s only specific
to the area I know well i.e. Naples, Pompeii and Herculaneum. I don’t know Tuscany or Venice at all and received
stacks of help about my plans for which I am very grateful.
We knew this was going to be a big day. I had researched
what to do via these forums, so felt relaxed and fore-armed. I had booked tickets for the Leaning Tower
and Baptistry via the website
And had a timeslot for 4.30pm, so looking forward to going
to Lucca first, having a nice leisurely bike ride around the walls and lunch,
then off to Pisa to climb the tower (which I did way back in 1984 before it was
closed for ten years’ worth of restoration).
Go on - take that cheesy pic - you KNOW you want to!
Well, you know the old saying about the best laid plans? First glitch was the trains. We rocked up to Florence's Santa Maria Novella stationat around 9am
– and the next direct train to Lucca wasn’t leaving until 11am. Okay – Plan B –
go to Pisa and change. No problems, that was easy. Train from Florence to Pisa
was fast and took around an hour or so. We then had to wait 40 minutes for the connection
to Lucca using the same ticket as they are valid for six hours. Ho-hum – what
to do while we waited. Well, Sam was hungry, there was a McDonalds at Pisa
station – so yes – we ate McDonalds and it was nice – some kind of spicy
chicken sandwich thing they don’t sell in Australia. So if you have a bit of a
layover, don’t feel guilty, have some McDonalds! Also, if you need to use the
bathroom at Pisa station you need 50 cents.
Same the world over - just different language
And if you find yourself stuck on Pisa station waiting for the connection to Lucca - eat some Fonzies!
(In Australia, the equivalent is - you guessed it - Twisties)
The cathedral in Lucca - Sam ducked out into the pouring, torrential rain for this photo
Second glitch was the weather. It was cloudy and looked a
little threatening but we didn’t take our rain jackets as the forecast was for
‘light showers’. Hmmmmm. By the time the train got to Lucca, the light showers
were torrential, blowing sideways, cats and dogs, buckets of water…it was like
the tropics. If you’ve ever been stuck in the rain in SE Asia, India or Bali
you’ll know what I mean. Sam and I stood at the exit to the tiny station in
Lucca staring through the downpour at the city walls – which were only about
300 metres away – and would you believe NONE of those raincoat sellers were
around. I would have gladly bought one (as I had to in Pompeii later in the
trip). Anyway, we made a run for it, got soaked in the process, but were
hopeful the weather would lift.
The exquisite interior of Lucca's cathedral was a great place to shelter from the rain
It didn’t. We spent most of our time in Lucca inside the
cathedral, then huddled under the brolly taking a walk trying to avoid the
rivers running around the streets and finally took cover in a bar with a strong
espresso and a gelato while the rain continued to BUCKET down. The only time we
saw the city walls was making a mad dash across it to get out of the wild
weather. Needless to say, we didn’t ride bikes, go to lunch or do anything
much. The upside? We were the only tourists in Lucca that day – or the only
ones mad enough to venture outdoors. See the Cathedral and the city walls are
enormous and would be great for walking or bike riding – just not on a rainy
day.
Anyway, we took our sodden selves back on the train to Pisa
and by the time we got there – the weather had lifted, the sun was out and we
dried off.
To get from Pisa station down to the Field of Miracles where
the Leaning Tower is located, you buy a bus ticket for 1.25 euro and take the
red LAM bus across the street from the piazza in front of the station. If
you’re not sure where to go, just ask someone – they were all helpful as I was
waiting at the wrong stop but was guided to the right one buy a nice local
person. The bus interchange area at
Pisa station is very small so you won’t get lost.
Field of Miracles - and our first view of the famous Leaning Tower
The bus takes about 10 minutes to get there (validate your
ticket in the machine inside the bus) and drops you at the far end of the
Field, so you’ll get a great view of the Leaning Tower from a distance. Of
course, as you walk towards the tower you will be stopped about 50 times by
people asking can you take their photo, and then you also need to dodge the
people doing the ‘pinch the tower’, ‘hug the tower’, ‘prop up the tower’ poses.
It’s all so funny. What I didn’t expect was everyone to be so cheerful,
laughing and helping each other out with their cameras. There is something
about taking silly, cheesy shots that brings out the good humour in people.
Naturally, we took our own. You just have to!
Our timeslot was for 4.30 to climb the tower so we went to
the Baptistry first. It’s under restoration so lots of scaffold on the inside
but it is beautiful and a very calm place to sit and rest for a while. You can
climb some stairs and see it from above but we didn’t do that, just preferring
to enjoy the beauty of the light coming in the stained glass windows.
Exterior of the Baptistry
The Leaning Tower required us to check bags – and that means
everything including purses/handbags. You then go line up beside the tower and
wait for your entry time. People were being turned back to the ticket office as
they hadn’t checked everything, believing that handbags were exempt – no. The
walk from the bag check to the line is only a few minutes – about 400 metres.
When you go inside the tower, a guide gives you a little briefing and history
and then away you go. It doesn’t take long to reach the top but it can be an
odd experience as you’re walking uphill and then downhill with the lean of the
tower.
About to climb the Leaning Tower - it's not that far - it only takes about 10 minutes
We got to the top and of course were marvelling at the view of Pisa – then the bells rang (it is a bell tower after all) so we were lucky enough to hear that as well. I gotta fess up and say I had really bad vertigo up there, especially the part of the viewing area that leans down. Sam was having a ball but his mumma was having a borderline panic attack, so I went over to the ‘up’ side and tried to calm down. In all seriousness, if you have a fear of heights or suffer vertigo, the ‘down’ part of the viewing platform is probably not for you.
Just a little wire cage separates you from...
Vertigo...gulp!
It is a bell tower after all
View across the Field of Miracles over the Cathedral towards the Baptistry
The marble stairs - look how worn they are from the thousands of feet.
You get about half an hour up there before you’re ushered
down. It’s all very orderly and it’s not at all crowded as numbers are limited
via the ticketing system. We went down the stairs, took a few more photos and
got the bus back to Pisa station and on to Florence. Buses back to Pisa station
leave to the left of the tower opposite the souvenir stands. Buy a ticket on
board. By the time we got back to Florence, it was dark so we went to dinner at
Trattoria Nerone and fell asleep at the table (no I joke – but we felt like
it). This restaurant has a great wood fired pizza oven and makes really good
risotto. It’s cheap too – and was only minutes from our dive hotel so for us, a
good choice.
Next day we were heading for Naples but…not before we
climbed the cupola of the Florence duomo. We were determined to be first up so
bought our ticket from the ticket office opposite the Bapistry (there are
ticket machines inside which take credit cards). We then lined up for the
8.30am opening time, the doors opened, we scanned our ticket and then RAN up
the stairs. Lucky for me I run 5km every day so my fitness is pretty good but
it was still a challenging climb but SO WORTH IT as we were the first ones up
and got to see Florence spread out below us. We felt like birds. It was just
perfect.
Sam with two tickets for the Duomo cupola (dome). Buy your tickets from the machines in the government office to the left of the Baptistry (as you face the Duomo)
We were there so early we had the famous Bronze Doors of the Baptistry all to ourselves (note - the doors are replicas).
And have a look at this view!!!
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