Italy, Day 4: Easter, Pisa
Happy Easter! After breakfast, Sarah and I returned to our room and just before 10 am we heard live drums in the square with trumpet fanfare, then the carillon bells of the Duomo. The carillon bells continued to sound throughout the day, at least hourly. It was a bad day for a long nap.
Today was unplanned but we decided on a day trip to Pisa. On the one hand, it was a bad day to go because not only was it Sunday, it was Easter Sunday, and I thought train and taxi services would be lessened. On the other hand, today was the best day for a side trip, and Pisa is closer to Florence than to Siena. We ended up going.
The trains were running hourly. However, the taxis were few and far between, and bus service was apparently stopped. We waited quite a while for a taxi to the "Field of Miracles" area of Pisa.
Is it me, or is that tower leaning a little?
We found a Rick Steves-approved trattoria for lunch nearby. I had my first Italian pizze. Thin crust, as you'd expect. I had prosciutto e funghi - ham and mushrooms. It was tasty but didn't make me moan. It was circular, unlike some pizzas I've seen here (rectangular) but, like traditional pizzas, was not cut in any way.
We waited quite a while for a taxi back to the train station. We waited across the street from our dropoff. Then we went to a second pickup point and had better luck there. But it was probably 45 minutes of waiting.
I paid more attention to the countryside on our return train trip.
There was a McDonalds at the station, our first evidence of fast food in Italy, the home of Slow Food. They even had the cheek to present a "Welcome to Florence" map with three other locations highlighted.
We returned to our room and Margo and I took short naps. That took us to about dinnertime. We looked at some restaurant recommendations but decided to visit Za-Za again.
We got the litre of house red again and started with an appetizer sampler: an omelette, breaded veal balls, crostini with goat cheese and tomatoes, cured meats, and liver pate. We got penne pomodoro for Sarah again, plus ritagoni with tomato sauce and fresh mozarella for Margo, and for me, spinach and ricotta ravioli in meat sauce. For once, my meal was tastier than Sarah's.
We arrived at about the same time and ended up being seated at the same table. And like last night, the table next to us was soon filled with chaperoned young American women saying "like" a lot, though they ended up moving to a larger table tonight.
Sarah tried the liver pate, and ended up asking for more! "I love it so much" - an actual quote.
We noticed again ... the waitresses work hard, but are very efficient.
For dolci ... Sarah had chocolate cake, Margo got apple pie with cream pudding and a small glass of Sambuca, and I had tiramisu with a small glass of Amaretto. Another happy meal. Dinners are now becoming the highlight of our days, and are usually around two hours.
Today was unplanned but we decided on a day trip to Pisa. On the one hand, it was a bad day to go because not only was it Sunday, it was Easter Sunday, and I thought train and taxi services would be lessened. On the other hand, today was the best day for a side trip, and Pisa is closer to Florence than to Siena. We ended up going.
The trains were running hourly. However, the taxis were few and far between, and bus service was apparently stopped. We waited quite a while for a taxi to the "Field of Miracles" area of Pisa.
Is it me, or is that tower leaning a little?
We found a Rick Steves-approved trattoria for lunch nearby. I had my first Italian pizze. Thin crust, as you'd expect. I had prosciutto e funghi - ham and mushrooms. It was tasty but didn't make me moan. It was circular, unlike some pizzas I've seen here (rectangular) but, like traditional pizzas, was not cut in any way.
We waited quite a while for a taxi back to the train station. We waited across the street from our dropoff. Then we went to a second pickup point and had better luck there. But it was probably 45 minutes of waiting.
I paid more attention to the countryside on our return train trip.
There was a McDonalds at the station, our first evidence of fast food in Italy, the home of Slow Food. They even had the cheek to present a "Welcome to Florence" map with three other locations highlighted.
We returned to our room and Margo and I took short naps. That took us to about dinnertime. We looked at some restaurant recommendations but decided to visit Za-Za again.
We got the litre of house red again and started with an appetizer sampler: an omelette, breaded veal balls, crostini with goat cheese and tomatoes, cured meats, and liver pate. We got penne pomodoro for Sarah again, plus ritagoni with tomato sauce and fresh mozarella for Margo, and for me, spinach and ricotta ravioli in meat sauce. For once, my meal was tastier than Sarah's.
We arrived at about the same time and ended up being seated at the same table. And like last night, the table next to us was soon filled with chaperoned young American women saying "like" a lot, though they ended up moving to a larger table tonight.
Sarah tried the liver pate, and ended up asking for more! "I love it so much" - an actual quote.
We noticed again ... the waitresses work hard, but are very efficient.
For dolci ... Sarah had chocolate cake, Margo got apple pie with cream pudding and a small glass of Sambuca, and I had tiramisu with a small glass of Amaretto. Another happy meal. Dinners are now becoming the highlight of our days, and are usually around two hours.
posted by Michael Nelson at 11:54 am
1 Comments:
Hey Guys,
I am loving this trip! Margo, I really appreciate what you wrote about Sarah's appreciation of the art. That's quite unusual for her age, but not that much of a surprise, given what I know about her.
Goody for you three taking this venture to Italy. Keep the blog coming!
Love
Dave
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