2022 Cruising and Tuscany – The Tuscany bit

[tonymc]

Pre-Trip report
The Cruise Bit

Well, after multiple changes to our flights, we eventually made it. Having finally booked a flight with Jet2 (Manchester – Pisa), our travels starts the previous evening as Jet2 had reintroduced their twilight check-in, and given the chaos reported at MAN over the last few months, we thought it prudent to take advantage, especially as we are only 30 minutes drive away.

Friday 13th May (could have been a bad omen! ) sees our alarms going off at 02:45…….a bleary-eyed drive to MAN where we had arranged meet & greet parking, saving us some time. Having checked our baggage in the previous night, we were straight into security, and fortunately Jet2 are using the smaller “B” check-in area which has it’s own security lanes, so we were through in around 30 minutes. Plenty of time to kill in T1 as our flight wasn’t boarding until 05:45, but as time went on, the crowds of people were getting noticeably heavier, and queues for refreshments were extremely long!

However, the flight departed on time, and deposited us at Pisa on time as well. The people mover from the airport to Centrale station was a convenient way to get to the centre, but Google Maps for some reason directed us to our accommodation down the back streets rather than the somewhat flatter and nicer main shopping street – didn’t realise it had an “avoid shopping area” option to it!

Anyhow, a 10 minute walk brought us to our accommodation, tucked away in a narrow street, but less than a minutes walk from the main street and only a few minutes more to the river. Having previously messaged our host Lisa, she welcomed us and told us she had our room available – extremely good service as we had pitched up just after 11:00. Our accommodation was the garden view room in one of the buildings with three rooms, and coffee/tea and pastries were always available. In addition, there was a voucher for breakfast at a café just at the end of the street.

Having unpacked, we called in at a local café for a quick bite before taking a stroll around the town, finding our way to the cathedral and tower, and then just enjoying wandering the area, stopping for an ice cream in Piazza Garibaldi– it was hot, hot, hot.

With a suitable rest back at the accommodation, and having their dog join us (obviously the dog realised we were the soft-touch Brits when it comes to animals! ), we ventured out for dinner along Borgo Stretto, coincidentally also home to the expensive shops. A reasonably priced meal (starters and main each plus a drink for around eu30) was followed by another stroll up to the tower, which at this time was much less crowd, but with our early start, it was a case of back to our accommodation via a small bar again at Piazza Garibaldi for an early nightcap.

On the way back to our accommodation, we were very surprised to find that the adjacent square that was empty during the day, was actually packed with locals – a great atmosphere, but we were too tired to join in, and fortunately, the walled garden around our property meant that we heard very little noise.

Day 2 and we had booked tickets before we left to climb the tower, so we enjoyed breakfast outside using our vouchers at the local café, and then a stroll back to the tower. Believe me, those steps up the tower will test you! Great views from the top though, and our ticket also gave us access to the cathedral, baptistry, museum etc around the site.

After a couple of enjoyable hours, my ever reliable stomach clock (which always automatically adjusts for different time zones! ) gave off a lunchtime warning, and we had a quick sandwich and drink at a bar just around the corner from the tower.

Following lunch, we visited the botanical gardens (unfortunately not much flowering), and enjoyed a few more the city sights before returning to Piazza Garibaldi for an ice cream. Then the usual afternoon siesta, before an evening stroll around the town walls from near our accommodation over to the tower, and dinner at a restaurant near the tower that we had seen earlier in the day. Slightly more pricey than yesterday evening, but given it’s location, still decent value.

Another return to the bar at Piazza Garibaldi for a nightcap before returning and packing for our cruise embarkation in the morning.

[Loopylooloo]

Loving this already! Great photos, especially the tower of Pisa!
Looking forward to more.