Ahh Italy.... If you're a tourist you pretty much associate five basic things with Italy: Pizza, the mafia, the Pope, funny-sounding (smoking) Vespa-riding men with steriotypical names like Mario, and the leaning tower of Pisa. That being said, I must say, Pisa gets a bad rap.
Pisa is a fantastic place. Unbenounced to many, Pisa is a college town. It's full of markets, shopping, college kids, and is set on a beautiful river. Unfortunately however, the most anyone in the US typically thinks about when Pisa is mentioned is a Times Square-esq nightmare of a million tourists and the countless north africans peddling cheap crap to them. Now, please don't misconstrue what i'm trying to say. Much like Times Square, the place is truly overwhelming at first. The plaza itself houses a beautiful church, a huge domed structure, several smaller buildings, and of course, the tower. Oh, and did i mention, the whole damn place is sinking!!! The tower is definately NOT the only building built there with the engineering knowhow of a 2 year old. The church was slapped together with collumns and stone from all over, built on an angle, and then obviously shored-up so that (hopefully) no one would notice. Well, italian man who designed this structure, i've got some news for you..... YEESH!
Anywho, despite the touristy mahem, it was actually a really beautiful site. The architecture was actually quite amazing and I honestly doubt I've seen such ornate structures in a LONG time.
Anywho, after our fill of that we headed into the city. Into the REAL city. By this time, we were immersed in college kids (FINALLY!!!), beautiful produce markets, and shopping! (I know, isn't it sad that i even get excited to see good shopping???.. I think living in Campo Romano's startin to get to me =P) There were some great bakeries, fashionable clothing, and most importantly, YOUNG people. I mean honestly, I feel like if you're not over 40 you don't leave the house around me sometimes! It's ridiculous! I crave youth, excitement, inspiration, and frankly, i've gotta have it!!
::sigh::
ok, so back to the story: SO there we were walkin around Pisa gettin the real story, and honestly, it felt pretty good. I felt like finally i could see what it was like to be a twenty-something in Italy. This is the life i want to explore and believe you me, i'll be back there soon.
(Pizza and Pasta vending machines)
Pisa is a fantastic place. Unbenounced to many, Pisa is a college town. It's full of markets, shopping, college kids, and is set on a beautiful river. Unfortunately however, the most anyone in the US typically thinks about when Pisa is mentioned is a Times Square-esq nightmare of a million tourists and the countless north africans peddling cheap crap to them. Now, please don't misconstrue what i'm trying to say. Much like Times Square, the place is truly overwhelming at first. The plaza itself houses a beautiful church, a huge domed structure, several smaller buildings, and of course, the tower. Oh, and did i mention, the whole damn place is sinking!!! The tower is definately NOT the only building built there with the engineering knowhow of a 2 year old. The church was slapped together with collumns and stone from all over, built on an angle, and then obviously shored-up so that (hopefully) no one would notice. Well, italian man who designed this structure, i've got some news for you..... YEESH!
Anywho, despite the touristy mahem, it was actually a really beautiful site. The architecture was actually quite amazing and I honestly doubt I've seen such ornate structures in a LONG time.
Anywho, after our fill of that we headed into the city. Into the REAL city. By this time, we were immersed in college kids (FINALLY!!!), beautiful produce markets, and shopping! (I know, isn't it sad that i even get excited to see good shopping???.. I think living in Campo Romano's startin to get to me =P) There were some great bakeries, fashionable clothing, and most importantly, YOUNG people. I mean honestly, I feel like if you're not over 40 you don't leave the house around me sometimes! It's ridiculous! I crave youth, excitement, inspiration, and frankly, i've gotta have it!!
::sigh::
ok, so back to the story: SO there we were walkin around Pisa gettin the real story, and honestly, it felt pretty good. I felt like finally i could see what it was like to be a twenty-something in Italy. This is the life i want to explore and believe you me, i'll be back there soon.
(Pizza and Pasta vending machines)
(just cuz i think it's funny)
For now, enjoy the pics and stay tuned for the next post.
I've covered day trips for a while now...It's time for us to talk food!
CIAO!
2 comments:
That looks like a very comfortable bike seat!
if you see one, can you pick me up a leaning-tower-of-pisa shot glass? i half-assedly collect hyper-tacky shot glasses from around the world, and the tower lends itself to a particularly tacky design. my aunt looked when she was there, but somehow couldn't find one. if you don't see one though, no worries.
cheers!
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