When in Rome … etc. So on landing at Pisa Airport to find the next train from Pisa Centrale to Lucca was almost two and a half hours hence (trains are normally frequent but it was Sunday), I adopted the Roman or Italian approach to – well pretty much everything.
I took the Pisamover monorail service from the airport into Pisa (about 6 mins and cost 10 euros return) and basically lolled about in the sun for the next two hours.
I could have gone looking for a bus to Lucca but it’s a nightmare to locate an up-to-date timetable for the E3 service which runs between both towns – and what’s the rush?
A leisurely breakfast after an early start from Edinburgh set the tone for the rest of the day, probably the rest of the trip. Bar Kinzica – an odd name I thought but turns out she was the daughter of a noble family who according to legend saved Pisa from Saracen invasion – sits on Piazza Vittoria Emanuele ll, which is a main route from the train station for visitors arriving to see Pisa’s famous tower and other stunning buildings at Piazza dei Miracoli. So, great people watching potential as a steady stream of all shaped and sized turisti walked, waltzed and waddled past.
And as the clock slowly ticked towards my 12.50pm departure time I dampened my first experience of proper hot sun this year with a cold beer. A gentle meander back to Pisa Centrale and the train was conveniently awaiting on Platform 1 to take me on the 30 minute trip to the walled city.
I couldn’t get into my digs until 4pm – it was stressed in the check-in instructions – so what to do but soak up more sun while quaffing a prosecco at Undici Undici, a great bar/bistro which overlooks Lucca’s Duomo and sits next to a lovely ornamental fountain.
I am quickly assimilating into the Tuscan way of life . . .