Pisa, Lucca, and Padua, Italy

I never repeat the quote, "No battle plan survives first contact with the enemy," correctly and I never remember who said it (Helmuth Von Moltke, according to my husband and Google). I've also never been in a battle--unless driving an RV on the Bronx Expressway counts--but whether or not the quote is literally true, it feels true and it definitely applies to the planning and execution of a vacation.

As a result of a hotel room shortage; our campaign to create more leisure during our travels; an inopportune bout of food poisoning; and a lack of attention to the calendar--specifically the date we were expected to arrive in Toulouse, France--the Italy itinerary was squeezed into near oblivion. We planned to go to Verona, but we stayed the night in Padua instead since there was a serious shortage of affordable housing in the former. Our second attempt to see Verona ended ten minutes before departure when a four star hotel in Florence discounted their nightly rate by over $70 and Verona still showed no sign of being affordable.

We planned to visit San Gimignano, but there wasn't time when--so taken with Florence--we stayed an extra night. And the Cinque Terre went largely unexplored due to my scheduled work day and the food poisoning I mentioned above--which I blame on my husband since he stated, "We've been lucky during this trip that no one has gotten sick," two days before I became sick. Luckily, a surgical strike to Pisa was arranged and we found a 100 Euro/night former monastery hostel inside of Lucca--a city which made our "top four places to visit" list. So, although the battle plan did not survive contact with the enemy (aka reality), it all turned out for the best.

Pisa:
The one picture I wish I had taken in Pisa consisted of thousands of people posing in the "I'm holding up the Leaning Tower" position. Some people pretended to hold up the tower with their hands, others with their feet, and directions between photographer and subject could be heard in dozens of languages. I rolled my eyes like a snob when my husband said, "You know you want one," and I said no even after I changed my mind because I'm clearly too stubborn to admit when I want to be tacky. My son, however, says I can PhotoShop myself into someone else's picture, so I might try this some time.

One thing that surprised me about Pisa is that the Leaning Tower looks no higher than my 12 story office building (at least I think it's 12 floors, but I've never gone above the sixth and I never pay attention in the elevator). Another surprise is that the tower is one of three buildings which make up the Campo dei Miracoli.  A social studies teacher probably told me this in high school, but if it was prom or homecoming week, I wasn't paying attention.  Also, if this was the class where that guy continually pushed my desk an inch forward until I was half a desk ahead of the rest of my row, I was equally distracted.

A family ticket to see the Duomo, the Baptistry, and the Camposanto Cemetery only cost a total of 24 Euro (our eight year old daughter was free). Climbing the tower cost an additional 15 Euro per person, but there was a four hour wait by the time we arrived (around noon) so we agreed to see the other two buildings and the cemetery instead.

Something I may not have mentioned before is that the ticket takers in tourist areas are by and large unfriendly--this is especially true in Pisa. You can say "buon giorno" and "grazie" all you like and they will not smile at you.  It's better if you don't try to make a human connection, and you don't mention your relatives came from these parts. They don't care. Just hand them your ticket and move along in a way that doesn't betray your disappointment because if you really wanted to meet the locals, you wouldn't be in a tourist area anyway.

The nearest building to the entrance of the Campo dei Miracoli is the Baptistry which itself is leaning six feet to one side and has a remarkable echo when the security guard decides to yell. The second building is the cathedral and there are a number of spooky dead people in glass coffins and pieces of dead people in glass cases which I will address in a later post called "Culture Shock". The third building is the most famous and the one that every person who visits Pisa has a picture of (except me) with their hand holding up the top.

"Campo dei Miracoli" means "Field of Miracles", and this name was nowhere more fitting than at the American-style food stand where we bought a Coca-Cola whose core was a cylinder of ice. Not only did this cause my husband to yell, "Woehoe!" with the Coke held high in the air, but the children took a turn hugging the bottle and holding it to the side of their faces.

Lucca:
Lucca is one of the four cities we visited during our vacation where--had we been independently wealthy--we would have sent for our things and called it home. Lucca features an ancient wall surrounding the old town which required 100 years and one third of its citizens' wealth to build. In case you're wondering, this exceeds the percentage of US defense spending during the Cold War. It was money well spent, though since Lucca was never attacked by Florence or any other regional power.

Walking or biking around the top of the wall (it's about 50 feet wide) is a good way to get your bearings in Lucca, and if you stay in the hostel where we stayed, you won't get lost since the hostel is inside and along the wall.   Renting a bike will cost $7 per hour and you can find one next to the tourist office about 100 feet from the hostel's front door. Don't expect to rent a helmet (for adults or children) because helmets aren't used here, and luckily it was my daughter's palm, not head, that was skinned and bloodied when she fell off her bike.

Unlike Florence, Lucca is a city where you won't have fantasies of powerwashing the streets and buildings since each and every street, courtyard and building looks like it was cleaned in preparation for a visit from the Pope. As pretty and livable as Lucca seems during the day, it is prettier and more lively after dark with cafes filled with people of every generation eating and conversing well into the night. The wall and trees are back-lit with a Martha Stewart-esque fashion sense and the tolling of many church bells provide etherial theme music to your walk around the city. Walking along the wall is also a safe and rewarding activity (we frequently saw women walking alone) as long as you stay away from the two foot berm at the edge because beyond that is a straight drop to where the moat would be, and there are no guard rails, and no moat.

As an interesting--or not so interesting--aside, Puccini is from Lucca, a fact which excited my opera-loving husband (who will gladly sing a few bars when the children are misbehaving), and there are opera concerts most nights in various churches (see signs pictured below).

Padua:
I've been trying to think something positive to say about Padua for a while, and I've decided that this is probably unfair since a non-asthmatic might find little or no problem with the city. It has a church with the remains of St. Anthony which currently consists of just his tongue (you can see this in a glass case), and a very kind street vendor who chased us across the street to give our daughter more pears than those for which we paid. (Have I mentioned how much Italian men dote on blonde little girls?) The first ever surgical theater was built here in 1594 at the University of Padua--where Galileo taught and Copernicus studied.

So, Padua is a university town with a lot of energy, and an amazing history, but it is also a town with a lot of traffic and smog. It's not Padua's fault that I have asthma, but just let me say that we've walked up mountains and through multiple cities and I did not need my inhaler until I walked out of the hotel near Padua's historic center. If you don't have asthma, and you don't mind loud traffic and diesel fumes, Padua may be just the place for you, but I unfortunately only got as far as St. Anthony's before calling it a day. There are also street vendors selling religious candles outside St. Anthony's which many people purchase, then press against St. Anthony's tomb (pictured below), but keep in mind that a blessing won't keep the candles from melting when left in your car, and this we know from experience.