One of the highlights of our trip to Tuscany last year was to be our visit to Pisa. To be accurate, the main attraction was not so much the city of Pisa itself, charming though it undoubtedly is, but the Field of Miracles*. Well, to be punctiliously precise, it wasn't even the Field of Miracles that had our anticipatory juices flowing, but The Leaning Tower of Pisa in particular.
* The Field of Miracles is the area housing the Duomo, Tower, Baptistry and associated buildings.
To be honest, if you discount the Field of Miracles, I'm not sure that much else in Pisa merits a visit although I expect some Pisaphile will soon put me straight on that count. However, it can't be denied that the seething masses that are constantly disgorged from the tourist buses usually have one thing in mind and that's to take one of those corny snaps ...
Advantages: Breath taking views, easy to get to and around Disadvantages: Them damn bicycles
circular in shape and is situated behind the Cathedral. Once inside the Baptistery the first thing I noticed was the acoustic and echoing affect which are said to be superior in the early morning when the choir sing. We then moved along to the Camposanto, which is the Cemetery or Holy Field, and again the views are phenomenal. Dating back to the late 1200's the Camposanto was used to house holy soil, which was brought from where Christ was crucified. Sadly due to the second world war bombings we are left with only ruins and once workers began to removed damaged parts of the walls, etchings were found which are now on display in one of the two museums in Pisa.
The final two places we visited were museums, one known as Museo dell'Opera del Duomo (Cathedral Museum) and Museo delle Sinopie. Museo dell'Operra houses many sculptures, paintings ...
kappaslappa 03.10.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Pisa (Italy)
Advantages: Good price, great rooms and breakfast Disadvantages: not best surroundings
This was a definite 'how far can we go on a budget at Easter where it might be warm?' affair. Thank God for budget airlines. Me, the wife and the nipper/satan spawn off to Pisa on Ryanair from Liverpool for about £140 should do it.
But where to stay? I was all for sleeping on a beach but Italy in April wouldn't stop hypothermia I was told. So it was time to scour the internet for somewhere with 5 days availability, vaguely out of season and cheap. We had about £400 to play with. Not too bad. The wonders of the modern family meant that some of our kids were spending time with their real parents so we were down from 5 to 1. It wasn't my idea to conceive a child between us that we couldn't ship out. Damn female hormones. Rather than spend our time mourning, we thought it best to bugger off of on holiday without them to ease the pain ...
Product Information for "Trattoria S. Omobono, Pisa" »
Product details
Long Name
Trattoria S. Omobono
Type
Italian
Continent
Europe
Country
Italy
City
Pisa
Address
Piazza S. Omobono 6, Pisa, Italy
Telephone
050 540 847
Manufacturer's product description
Around a column surviving from the medieval church that once stood here, locals gather to enjoy authentic Pisan home cooking. You can get away with a full meal, including wine, for under 20? ($26), opening with something like brachette alla renaiaola (an antique Pisan dish consisting of large pasta squares in a purée of turnip greens and smoked fish) or tagliatelle alla scarpara (in a sausage ragù). The secondi are simple and straightforward: baccalà alla livornese (salt cod with tomatoes) or maiale arrosto (thinly sliced roast pork), with which you can order fried polenta slices or ultra-Pisan ceci (garbanzo) beans.
