Pisa e Cinque Terre (The 5 Lands)
10/8/2007 5:04 PM
The Duomo of Pisa with the Tower Behind
On Friday morning, Brian, Jasmine, Kyle, John, Andrew and I finally
mastered the tram and bus system and arrived at the train station half an hour
before our train was scheduled to depart.
It was an amazing experience to calmly pick up our tickets from
the self service machines and even grab a cappuccino and dolce from the local
caffe bar. After several weeks of travel, I think we may have finally solved all of the small gliches that enevitably made us late for the train. We hopped onto our Eurostar
train, found our assigned seats and headed from Rome to Firenze
(also known as Florence). The Eurostar was ridiculously comfortable,
even in second class. I have no idea why
you would even want to spend the money on a first class ticket on any type of short journey. We reached Firenze quickly
thanks to the speedy Eurostar and changed trains in order to head toward Pisa, our first planned site visit of the day.
Once we arrived in Pisa,
we met up with our friend, Andrew, who is studying in Pisa
for the year. It was a blast to be shown
around Pisa by someone who had
actually had time to scope it all out beforehand. Even
with a guide, however, Pisa is tiny
in comparison to Rome. The main attraction that draws crowds from all over the world is the world famous
Leaning Tower, which is in fact the bell tower for the Duomo of Pisa. The Duomo itself is dedicated to Santa Maria Assunta (Saint Mary of the Assumption). The Tower and the Duomo are all located on
what is now known as the Piazza dei Miracoli or Square
of Miracles. Also on the site is the largest baptistery in
Italy which is
dedicated to Saint John the Baptist
and the Camposanto which is a huge walled cemetery cum gothic cloister. In all, the space of the Piazza dei Miracoli and the figures of the Duomo, Tower, Baptistry and the Camposanto create a remarkable figure/ground composition unique to Pisa. The Piazza dei Miracoli instantly flips the
standard urban relationship of medieval building where the street is the
figural space to a new standard where the architectural form is the pre-eminent
figure and the green space between becomes the ground or plane upon which the buildings themselves are exhibited.
The Baptistry and The Duomo of Pisa
The Leaning Tower of Pisa
Me, Andrew, Kyle, Brian, Jasmine, John and Andy enjoying a truly turistical moment in Pisa
After taking an hour to pose and take several hundred very
touristy shots with the Tower, we toured the interior of the Duomo and the Baptistry We then
headed for the train station to catch our scheduled train for La
Spezia, where we had booked a hostel for the
night.
In order to get to the hostel, we
had to catch a bus in La Spezia to
the hillside town of Bassia. The only problem was that we were not exactly
sure when the last bus ran and if we would be able to catch it. Luckily, after some help from the locals, we
were able to make it to the bus stop and the last bus to the hostel. Once we finally arrived at the hostel, we headed into the
very, very small town of Bassia to
find out what was on the menu of the only two restaurants in town. It is remarkable that the town only sported
two restaurants, as the Italians seem to love good food and good company at the
dinner table more than anything else. However,
the restaurant we picked was one of the most fantastic dinning experiences of
my life. We ordered the true Italian dinner
with a healthy portion of wine, an appetizer, first course, second course and desert. I have never eaten so much unbelievably good
food before, and I will most likely never eat like that again. After everyone was literally stuffed, we headed
for a well earned night of sleep at our hostel.
On Saturday morning, we caught the severely overcrowded bus to
Riomaggiore, town #5 of the Cinque Terre or the 5 lands that make up the Cinque
Terre national park and marine wildlife preserve. This area is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site
due to its amazing beauty and remote location.
We hiked and explored as much of the Cinque Terre as we could until we were
forced to leave the amazing beauty of Italy’s
northwestern coast by our pre-booked train tickets. All that I can say about Cinque Terre is that
if you ever make it to Italy,
you must visit this wonderful site. Whether you visit for the day, or stay for a week, the
5 towns that make up Cinque Terre are full of the special charm that only Italy
can cast over you. It must be
experienced to be believed.
A footprint in the sands of Monterosso al Mare
Train heading to Manarola, Cinque Terre town #4
The incredibly blue yet clear waters along the Via Dell'Amore
