Italy

June 2008

Ciao from Italie! Yeah, yeah, I know. I see the shock on your face. You’re thinking, “But, didn’t she just get back home after traveling for eight months?” Hey, it ain’t my fault. My good fella that I sleep with got me the ticket – free – using frequent flyer miles – while I was still in New Zealand. I was, of course, unable to protest – even for appearances sake. So, here I am, in delightful Pisa, the dutiful wife, accompanying her husband on a math conference trip. We’ll be in Italy for just over two weeks. After Pisa we’ll go into the Tuscan countryside south of Siena, where we are renting – no, not a villa – one of those agriturismo thingies - a holiday house. We’ll be joined by two mums and bubs. More on that later.

Anyhoo – Italy – well, anything I say about it won’t be original …
We are staying at a charming hotel – the Hotel Victoria – a historical landmark – right beside the River Arno and plop in the middle of the historical center. Just around the corner is Piazza Garibaldi where you can find the best gelato place in Pisa – La Bottega – which we had discovered when we were here six years ago. You might think it’s luck, but I’m suspicious. Tbh my belief is that the only role luck plays in this is that Daryl booked us at the hotel closest to this gelateria and it just so happened to be a great hotel!

In the last two days we chugged down calories like it’s nobody’s business. How can we not indulge in bubbly, smoky pizzas and creamy gelatos and Chianti Classico? We tried to burn as many of those calories as we could circling the leaning tower and the Duomo and marching along the Arno.

If you have to spend a week in an Italian city you can do worse than Pisa. It’s got a terrific historical center and a vibrant café scene. Ah, the delightful cafes of Europe. I’m so lucky that I get to nip out to Europe every summer for a few weeks and ‘do’ the café thing.

Yesterday – Sunday – was Republic Day – and we thought we should go to some interesting nearby place for the day. Lucca would have been the obvious choice, except for the fact that the conference organizers have set aside a day for this gem of a town. We consulted our guide book and the description of Livorno was good so we took a bus out there. It was when we got off the bus that we realized the guide book we had was a disappointment. In the last 4 or 5 years I’ve been using Rick Steves' guides. He was great on France, especially Provence and the Cote d’Azur. He was also fine on Eastern Europe. But the last couple trips Daryl complained a lot, so this trip we decided to get something different – Hunter Travel Guides. I should also mention that I was beginning to get irritated that Rick Steves had such a monopoly on European travel guides. Everywhere in Europe I’d been to in the last few years most of the travelers were using, you got it, Rick Steves.

In Livorno when we got off the bus, we couldn’t quite figure out where we were. Rick Steve’s guide would have had a map of the city center that would have worked to get you to a TI and to the main tourist sites – as well as to his recommended hotels and restaurants. Anyway, we found a TI after meandering around a bit. With a map we explored Livorno, which has quite a large, active port, but we could find nothing charming or interesting. A series of canals run through the center and flanking them are Renaissance buildings. Nothing much was going on and we couldn’t even find a decent café. Rick Steve would have told you whether a place was worth visiting or should be skipped! He isn’t always right, though. Last time in Italy we ignored his advice on skipping Bologna – thankfully. We loved it – and it has some of Italy’s best restaurants. But Livorno does not deserve a visit – nor even the amount of time I’m spending writing about it! So Hunter Travel Guides suck!

Regarding costs and the ‘bifocal’ dollar (you can buy *f* all with a dollar) we have been surprised to find Italy less expensive than we expected. A veg pizza for one person at a decent restaurant is around 5 euros (in Santa Barbara it will be $10 or more). Gelato is 1.50, a glass of wine at a café sitting outdoors is 3 euros (in SB it would be $5 - $8). Cappuccinos are a bit pricy – 3 euros a cup. Gas is $10 a gallon – ouch!

That’s it for now. Stay tuned.

Ciao Bella!