EXPLORE
One weekend in November we decided to take a trip somewhere in Europe. After a few days discussing and organising where to go, with Paris, Rome and Venice as the options, we finally booked the trip the night before we had to leave, to an unexpected contender; Pisa.
When booking a last minute holiday it is important to look around, and not to give up till you find something perfect that includes transfers or that the airport is near enough to the hotel; that the destination is within the right distance to the city, and finally that “the price is right”.
Booking a package deal:
We managed to get it all for just over £200. Not much more than the price that most last minutes flights were advertised at alone.
After a long coach journey to Heathrow airport, a lengthy wait in the Airport, a plane trip sat behind a mum and her young baby, a short bus and walk from Pisa airport, we arrived at our hotel late and exhausted.
We knew the hotel was near the tower of Pisa when we booked, but at night time completely missed it, awaking to a nice sight in the morning.
Pisa was a nice town, but other than tourists attempting to change the leaning tower of Pisa it is not very lively.
Making the most of our short journey, we got a coach to Florence, spending the day exploring the busy streets and drinking a bottle of red wine we bought from the market, ending it with a nice bowl of pasta.
Searching what else Tuscany had to offer we got the train to Siena the second day. Siena was a small city, but it was filled with history and charm, it was a complete change from the busy streets of Florence, but it was relaxing.
It was definitely a break needed, and the food was amazing. Sometimes you get more done in a short break than a long one.
Tips:
I recommend to download the app Triposo before going away. Not only does it have lists of what to do in mostly every city in the world, but also offline maps that use only your phones GPS and information about most monuments some restaurants and markets.
Here are some of the sights you should not miss if you go to Florence:
The Piazza del Duomo where you can find the Florence Cathedral (basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore) with its ceiling , Giotoo’s bell tower (Campanile di Giotto) which has seven bells that ring and bounce beautifully off all the surrounding buildings and is well worth climbing if you don’t mind queuing (so get there early), the meseo dell’Opera del Duomo which stores masterpeices from Michelangelo, Danatello, Lorenzon Ghiberti and many other great artists.
Those are the three biggest attractions in the Piazza del Duomo but there is more: Not far from the Dumo is Piazza di Santa Croce. Here is the Bascillica di Santa Croce, a church where tombs of Galileo, Machelangelo, Machiavelli, Danta and other historical greats are buried.
Another popular sight is “Ponte Veccho” (which means the old bridge), is a Medieval Bridge believed to be first built in Roman times and has shops and merchants on it. To stop lovers locking padlocks to the bridge a sign was been put up mentioning a €160 fine for those caught.
As I love to eat, one thing I wish I would have eaten in Florence is the “bistecca alla florentina”, widely known for being a huge and delicious cut of steak. However as mentioned, this was a low cost holiday, so we settled for the best rated gelato store in Florence (on tripadviser), which was the only gelato store in Florence that had a queue out of the door and was filled so many amazing flavours
By James Samuel
