A few days in Italy!

Our local airport flies to Pisa 6 or 7 months a year and we seem to always get the idea to go in October, just at the end of the season.  That is how it was this year too.

Having an airport so close to home should be such a great asset, but there are really very few flights nowadays to choose from, mainly Pisa and a few places in Spain.  I don't know why we love Italy so much, but we do and there is no getting away from that, so how about 4 days away in Pisa and the Cinque Terre? Sounded great to us, and it was!

Getting to the airport was relatively simple too, just jump on the bus near us and get to the train station. From there, a short train journey to the airport and voila!  Europe on our doorstep!

Our flight left at 12:40 and we arrived just after 3, where it was still very sunny and very warm - especially for us just leaving Autumnal Scotland and hitting temperatures like we only see on our hottest summer days - 73F!

I guess we missed a few years visiting here since even getting into Pisa from the airport was different.  Being seasoned Pisa visitors, we went straight to the bus ticket stand and bought tickets for Pisa.  They were only 3 Euro for the two of us!  But the directions given sounded wrong!  We attempted to follow them and realised we would have to walk a distance from the airport to get to the bus stop when we usually just got it right outside the airport itself. Went back and ended up asking some of the army personnel standing in front of the airport.  She directed us to the left of the airport to a green building that said "PisaMover" on it.  This is a mini tram that goes right into Pisa, just behind the station.  Cost 5 Euro, but much quicker than the bus, even if we could have boarded it where we used to.   Things do change!

Nice to be back to our favourite place to stay in Pisa, the Hotel la Pace. I cannot begin to tell you how many times we have returned to this hotel!  It is so convenient to the train station and not a far walk to the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Plus a super breakfast buffet!  And the price is always right.  Might not be the Hilton, but it has character and vintage looks and the staff are always great!

After so many times staying here, we were amazed when we opened the door to what was a fabulous suite, complete with balcony!  All our rooms before have faced the internal courtyard, for lack of a better description.  The hotel is down sort of a covered alleyway. Doesn't look great to walk down there, but it is perfectly fine.  Once you get in the hotel, you would never know the dark alleyway was just outside. But the windows of all our rooms, until now, have always faced that direction and the "view" is over the roof of the alleyway to the building across the street.  To get a balcony was incredible, and a suite!  We did have one before when we traveled with our niece but it was the typical vintage decor and not a separate room. This was two rooms in a way. In fact, when we opened the door, it looked like we had been given a single room!  Too bad we never have time to actually enjoy a hotel room!

Crossing the River Arno

This little square right on the River Arno is a required
stop for us when going home.
Deciding on whether to get an Aperol Spritz
or an ice cream can be difficult though!

Dumped our bags and headed out to the area where the Leaning Tower of Pisa is.  I remember the first time we tried to find it and the walk seemed to take forever, but now, it really is just up the street!  Along the way are all the familiar sights and sounds of Pisa and it is so nice to visit someplace over and over for the feeling of familiarity it brings.  My mantra typically is not to return to places since the world is so big, but it is nice to do it every so often.

They were filming something inside this building and it appears
that they wanted it to look like midday!

Did the usual tourist things, took photos of the Tower and surrounding gorgeous buildings.  Waited for sunset to get those nice views and then wandered along the road home, checking out all the menus of the restaurants along the streets until we found one we liked the sound of.  To be honest, the menus are all very similar, so the one we chose was due to the special offered - for 10 Euro, you could get Bruschetta, a salad or fries and a few different choices of main course.  I got salad and penne pasta with ragu sauce and Alan got fries and lasagna, along with the requisite Aperol Spritz!

Wonderful dinner and not too much!

These balloons intrigued me!

A great way to start our little Italian adventure and ended the day with just under 16,000 steps!