The Smoly Adventures

The flight yielded two of Will's best quotes from the entire trip.  First, on emerging from the overcast cloud layer and continuing to climb: "Um, mom, I think we're on the wrong plane, this plane is going into outer space."  Second, upon reaching the Alps, Janet pointed out the peaks to Will who said "Mom, we're in Colorado!"

Arriving in Pisa was one of the easiest post-flight experiences I've yet had. Our initial impressions of the region immediately had us comparing the views to those back in Colorado Springs, with the major exception being the proximity to the Mediterranean. Coming from perennially overcast Germany, it was such a relief to see the sun for the entire weekend.  As part of the Ryanair benefit, we managed to get a rental car for less than $10 a day, which I was offered an upgrade for 12 Euro to a larger SUV. Our first stop: Ikea for lunch; which was surprisingly good and had a number of regional-specific dishes (read: pasta, lasagna, etc)... then off to the Square of Miracles.


Now, I had seen photos of the leaning tower for as far back as I can remember, and none of them captured the reality. Maybe it was the mid-afternoon lighting, but our visit to the Square could not have been more perfect. Besides the obligatory photos of us holding up the tower (or in Will's case, trying to kick it over), Janet and my favorite had to be the Baptistery which is the circular building in the photo above. The architecture, the acoustics, and the singular focus of the facility had us in awe.

After concluding our visit to the Square of Miracles, we set off east toward the small village of Perignano.  Having booked our first Ryanair flight, we figured it was worthwhile to book our first AirBnB.  The apartment we stayed in was about 25 minutes from downtown Pisa, had two bedrooms and a bathroom, and most importantly, a full kitchen which thankfully kept our meal budget within its budget. Our host, Francesco, was great.  He met us at the apartment, provided a full rundown of the features, answered a few of our questions about the Tuscany region and was gracious enough to carry our single checked bag up to the apartment when we arrived. While Janet got things settled, Will and I ran to the little grocery market a few minutes away to grab the essentials for dinner and breakfasts over the next couple of days.

Sunday morning arrived and we were excited for our first full day in Italy. During our research, we discovered that there is a small US military post north of Livorno, and we were excited to celebrate the Lord's Day with fellow Americans. Following the service, we set off for the short trip to Livorno, lunch and the day's surprise for the boys. Located about 20 minutes southwest of Pisa, Livorno is located on the Mediterranean coast and serves as the port of entry for the many cruise ships dropping tourists off to see Pisa for the day.

We liked Livorno--mostly due to having been landlocked for the preceding five and half months and reveling in the opportunity to be near the ocean again.  We chose a little pizzeria along the promenade adjacent to the Livorno Aquarium, where we enjoyed a pizza and calzone. For being as small as it was, the aquarium was designed very well, featuring the many inhabitants of the Med, as well as from other locations across the globe. Topping the visit was seeing the resident sea turtles, two of which were nearly the size of a (Smart) car. After our visit with the sea turtles, we strolled the Terrazza Mascagni (above) and visited the Fortezza Nuova, one of several fortifications build during the reign of the House of Medici.

Our final full day in Italy was spent in the Roman-founded, fully preserved medieval walled city of Lucca. Lucca is about an hour north of Perignano and was an extremely scenic drive. One third of the way there, Janet pointed out the Vicopaisano castle complex rising above the road. We enjoyed the climb up to the castle proper even though during the winter it is only open on Saturdays. The remainder of the drive to Lucca was just a scenic as the first third with incredible views of the surrounding mountains as we weaved our way through multiple villages.

Lucca was by far our favorite place out of our travels this trip. Lucca is an interesting collection of old and modern juxtaposition. Modernity is seamlessly integrated into the layout of the city, and didn't diminish the city's historic buildings or atmosphere. It was strange to sit and enjoy our lunch in a small eatery squeezed into an older storefront, but yet had free wifi. The highlights of our day were authentic Italian Gelato (the pear was amazing!), and then our four-person bike tour of the city walls.



Now when you think about medieval city walls, the mind immediately goes to Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany or Canterbury, England with their clearly defensive focus and relative thinness. Lucca's city walls are in a league of their own.  Easily averaging more than 75 feet in thickness, the exterior masonry is bolstered by an incredible amount of earthworks; so much so that the perimeter of the wall now hosts a walking and biking path that covers 2.75 miles, and has numerous picnic areas and several playgrounds that the boys enjoyed. The day concluded with a stop at PAM, a major supermarket chain, to purchase some gifts for friends, family and ourselves.

Overall we enjoyed our first trip to Italy, and flying into Pisa with Ryanair was easy and efficient.  We'll use Pisa as our hub when we return to visit Cinque Terra and Florence. With how much we enjoyed Lucca, we might add that to the to-visit list again as well.