Pisa and beyond

For me, it was a thoughtful 40 mile drive from Volterra to Pisa International Airport. Ray and I had shared the experiences of our 1,200 mile road trip to and around a very small part of Tuscany, but after six days together it was now time for him to fly back to Blighty and for me to start my solo travelling again.

Ray loved his first taste of Italy especially being an aficionado of the Margarita Pizza, but this Harraby lad surprised me with his quick grasp of the Italian accent, regardless of his very limited vocabulary. He would have loved to stay longer but work called, whereas this old pensioner still had some time on his wrinkly hands.

But this felt like yet another challenge, yes I’d done a similar thing in December with Andy D, but this felt as though it was going to be a little more difficult. I don’t really know why, was it me just getting older, the health not running quite as smoothly as I would like, missing family and friends, the slightly daunting feeling of being alone or a combination of all? Whatever the reason or reasons I certainly felt that this could be a bit of an effort.

After a coffee and croissant in the airport Ray headed off to departures and I returned to the car parked in the multi-storey. I dropped its roof down, if nothing else other than to ease the effort of putting the parking ticket in the machine at the exit, and headed off on the 15 minute drive to my city centre hotel. It was gloriously sunny and warm and I felt good, nobody to talk with now but plenty of listening to do as the satnav guided me around the back streets of the city.

I enjoyed myself with Ray but I was also enjoying myself on this short drive. It made me think of what I’ve pondered recently, the car or the bike, and I came to the same conclusion. Travelling with somebody or alone are both enjoyable, one not necessarily better than the other, just different.

Once Herman was parked up in the hotel’s small car park I went for a wander until check in time. The hotel is literally two minutes walk from Pisa’s infamous landmark so once I’d taken the obligatory photos, which didn’t include me either holding the tower up or pushing it over, I ventured a little further afield to see if the city had much else to offer. I’d been reliably informed by Amy, my authority on all things Italian, French and travel related, that Pisa isn’t worth much more than its Piazza del Duomo, and of course she was right. But I found the river, The Arno, which also flows through Florence, and thereafter took an ‘off the beaten track’ street back to the piazza. It seems car crime is still trendy in these parts as I saw two smashed car windows over just a few hundred metres, it made me glad Herman was parked safely out of harms way.

Never one to shy away from the street sellers, I remember Rachel saying in Egypt “Will you stop encouraging them”? I presently have an interest in watches, and by all accounts a Rolex is the one to have. So instead of a street trader hassling me I thought I’d turn the tables. He had a nice array of watches but when I mentioned Rolex he delved into his inside pockets to bring out the expensive merchandise. €150 for an automatic Rolex was far too expensive for me but I showed sufficient interest for him to offer me, within two minutes, the ‘best price’ of €50. He then made me the final offer of “How much do you want to pay”? But I still walked away empty wristed, yes they seemed to be working properly, but I suspected that it wouldn’t be long before I’d only have a watch that gave me the right time twice a day.

After one night in Pisa I headed back towards more rural Tuscany but making a point of stopping off for a couple of nights in Siena. More to follow…..