Pisa and Florence

Campsite

Before visiting Pisa we spent an evening in the most militant campsite in the world. A place which reveled in rules, rules and more rules.

The swimming pool cost 1 euro each. But after purchasing the mandatory swimming caps (?!) it actually came to 2.50 each. After much arsing around with the campsite’s card machine, which wouldn’t accept our card, we finally managed to purchase the essential, crucial swimming caps we needed to use the pool. Then, once we’d finished studying the 48 pool rules which were listed at the entrance, we finally made our way into the swimming area for a relaxing swim.

The showers took the piss. 0.50 euros for 4 minutes, with the machine to activate them located outside, so the first 30 seconds were taken up with getting into the shower and getting your arse out as quickly as you could. A further minute was wasted trying to work out how to actually turn the shower head on (for me, anyway). My two and a half minute shower ended with me still covered in slop.

Pisa

We left the concentration campsite and made our way to Pisa, where we found a commercial parking lot to leave the van in. We walked into town, excited to see the famous tower.

It was a great moment when it first came into view. A real wow moment. There’s been quite a few like that on this journey. Reims cathedral, Bourges cathedral, Cannes McDonalds. On the subject of McDonalds - they absolutely love them here in Italy. They’re everywhere. We must’ve passed about four on the twenty minute drive into Pisa. Foodies, my arse.

We took a fair few photos of the tower and its surroundings, then had a drink in a bar right at the foot of the tower. It really is a beautiful building. Although I have to say, I was gobsmacked to discover it was quite lopsided! God knows what happened there. I can only think that the builder maybe lost his spirit level or something? I really don’t know. I mean, it’s so amazing in so many ways, it seems a real shame that they ruined it by throwing it up so carelessly.

It isn’t all about the tower though. Right next door to it is an amazing cathedral, and a third, boob-shaped building completes the set in a satisfyingly sexy manner. The green lawns which surround the architecture add to the prettiness, although they aren’t quite as sexy as the boob building.

The town itself is full of character too. We really enjoyed walking its quaint streets. On the way back to the van at the end of the day we had some delightful frozen yogurts with cherries and strawberries - a perfect antidote to the heat.

Post-Pisa, Pre-Florence

We had a quiet couple of days after Pisa at a free motorhome area, halfway towards Florence. There was a junior basketball session going on nearby when we arrived. Later, a man and woman arrived in a car and decided to park up right behind us, with their nose basically inside our back doors which, as sexy as it sounds, was actually annoying given how empty the rest of the place was. Pervs.

Rach got her first haircut in six months at a nearby salon. She sat there with her COVID mask on, pouring gallons of sweat as the stylist went to work making her look like an Afghan Hound. And that’s not me saying that. That was Rach’s verdict. Personally, I thought the cut made her look more like a Belgian Shepherd.

On the second night we were treated to a strange lightning display. Strange because there was no thunder whatsoever. The sky was just flashing away silently. And it was so frequent; every few seconds for about two hours non-stop. Amazing stuff.

Florence

We made our way to another free motorhome area, closer to Florence. It was absolutely ideal really, with a supermarket literally next door and Florence just a couple of stops away from the local train station, which was a 20 minute walk away. See the park4night link at the end of this blog.

It was SO HOT. Probably the hottest temperatures I’ve ever experienced. 36+ degrees. A real struggle.

We arrived at the train station about five minutes before our train was due to depart but still managed to miss it thanks to the slowest, shittest ticket machine on the planet. We got the next one.

Having finally made it into Florence, the first thing we noticed about it was the cathedral. Absolutely prostate-shattering (I need some new superlatives, I’m getting seriously fed up of the usual ‘amazing’, ‘stunning’, ‘incredible’). Just an unbelievable building.

The second thing I noticed (I'm not very observant) was getting conned by an ice cream merchant, who made me buy three scoops instead of two. I asked for two, then she picked up a pot and said, ‘’this size?’’, to which I just said ‘’yes’’ because I assumed she’d picked up a two scoop pot. Then, when I told her my two flavours, she said, ‘’I can fit in a third actually’’, to which I replied ‘’oh go on then, I’ll have another vanilla’’. All of this was conducted in flawless Italian, of course. Then, when it came time to pay, I got charged for a three-scooper. Unbe-bloody-lievable.

While walking the city we tried to find a gift for my niece, whose name is Florence, but everything had ‘Firenze’ on it, so I abandoned the plan. We then bumped into the most colourfully dressed man I’ve ever seen as we walked down one of the main streets. He was sat combing his hair when we first saw him. Then, the next thing we knew, we were chatting with him. He put some homemade bracelets he was selling on our wrists and told us his name was Didi. Didi from Kenya. He was a colourful character, to match his fashion sense. We told him we were from England. Coincidentally he’d had a baby daughter born in London that very day. Despite the lies, he was a lovely guy, and the unwanted bracelets only cost us 7 euro, so all in all it was a cheery meeting. Also, I’ve just thought of a gift for my niece.

Later, we had a few cocktails and a burger in a great little bar. We ended up staying in there for an extra cocktail when we heard live music was starting, but were disappointed when it turned out to be just a guy with his cap on backwards, butchering classic after classic in a sweaty grey T-shirt. Almost as if to make up for it, we caught a street band executing a great performance of ‘War’ by Bob Marley on the way back to the train station.

After a rest day spent desperately cowering from the heat in the van, we ventured back into Florence for a second day. We stopped almost immediately for a thirst-quenching drink at a bar. Now, I know I’ve already mentioned the next-level-Italian-free-bar-snack phenomenon in a previous blog, but this one really deserves a mention. They basically served us a beautifully presented, top quality starter with our drink. Lovely stuff.

Despite this, we still went for a famous sandwich from the famous sandwich place Rach has been banging on about famously since about January 2019. It was a disappointment. Even Rach thought so. Over-hyped.

We saw more of Florence - the famous jewellery bridge and the square with the Michaelangelo statue up above the city, where we got some great panoramic views of the Florence skyline - before ending our time in the Tuscan capital with one of the best meals we’ve had on the entire trip, at a restaurant we tragically can’t remember the name of. Succulent chicken wrapped in bacon and stuffed with cheese, served with roasted potatoes and rosemary. Yes please.

Again, we arrived at the train station with 5 minutes to spare but again we missed our train, due to more faulty ticket machines and some awful service from the staff. We then discovered that it had been our last train, so we ended up having to get a coach back. The coach was supposed to stop at the train station but it didn’t, so we were clueless as to where we should go when we disembarked. Luckily, a kind local guy with a bicycle walked us (and his bicycle) to the local train station, where we were able to retrieve our bearings.

We really enjoyed our time inland but Christ please get us back to the coast where it's a few degrees cooler.

Recommended park up for Florence:

http://park4night.com/lieu/48851/