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| Watch out! It's falling! Oh, wait... |
However, I was mistaken. For a start, the train trip between the two places is a rather lovely experience in itself. The Tuscan countryside is absolutely marvellous with old farm houses, some in a rather rustic state of ruin. At this time of year it’s a beautiful mix of colours – the rustic browns of the buildings matching the falling leaves, contrasted against the bright green grass that the recent rain has allowed to come through. In the hillsides you can see great manmade cliffs from marble quarries, very interesting. Plus villages on hills and the occasional castle or watchtower!
Then when you get to Pisa it has a life all unto itself. It’s a student city, so the city is very vibrant and alive. The centre of town is a mix of buildings from different areas, and the river once again splits the city in two.
As is Nick’s want, rather than just making the most direct path from A to B, we headed in the general direction of the ‘Field of Miracles’ where the Tower is located. This allowed us to take in the surroundings and enjoy what was going on around us. And then we turned a corner and saw the Tower in front of us.
The Tower of Pisa itself is very interesting. It seems larger than you’d expect it to be, and at a very noticeable lean! But almost of more interest is what else is around the Tower. Of course, you have the hilarious tourists all trying to be original by holding up or pushing the tower over (Yes, of course we did that too, but that’s different because we’re cool). But it’s also in rather a beautiful area – the buildings around it are even more ancient than the tower itself, and the Cathedral in the Field is a standalone beauty. Plus the old Town Walls which go around the field add to the sense of history. All in all, a rather amazing experience and one I’d definitely recommend a field trip to while in the area. I think I would have liked to have spent some more time in this area.
On the way back, I started to think about some of the things I’ve seen over my time in Italy so far (we still have another week or so to go). One of the things which has got to me the most and was almost more prevalent in Florence and Pisa than anywhere else we’ve seen is those at the bottom end of the socioeconomic scale. The most obvious representation of this is the hawkers selling cheap goods to tourists on street corners. While not a phenomenon I haven’t witnessed before – they’re relatively prevalent in Thailand as well – here in Italy, especially in Tuscany, they’re on nearly every street corner. Umbrellas, sunglasses, “Rolexes”, toys, tissues, handbags are all available as cheap as chips. Almost all of these hawkers here in Italy are of African descent and they’re almost exclusively male.
I don’t really have too much of a problem with these guys in themselves – they have to make a living somehow, and I’m pretty good at ignoring them now. I don’t need anything they’re selling and I know that, if I did, I’d pay a little more for something that I know will last longer. The hawkers are just part of a larger problem.
Where I think this problem is raising its ugly head in a much more tangible way is the beggars. There’s a wide range of these and they really break my heart. While the hawkers are almost exclusively male, the beggars are by and large women. The most aggressive of these know when to try the hardest for a few dollars, and public transport is the most obvious target. They’ll try to get a few cents change from those at ticket vending machines, or on trains or buses where they know their market is unable to easily move away from them. You even see a few with their children with them. This is particularly distressing.
Probably the most heartbreaking I’ve seen is a very old woman who was begging outside a bank. She was on her knees, but she didn’t even raise her head off the ground. All you could see was her head scarf, and one hand trembling.
It’s incredibly hard not to give these guys money. I know there are very good reasons not to (you don’t know where it’s going, who’s taking a cut of this at the end of the day and once you start others get wind and suddenly you get seen as an easy target). Plus generally speaking I don’t carry cash around with me if I can possibly avoid it. But it doesn’t make it any easier.
I’ve been thinking about the causes of this. I’m not naive enough to think that we don’t have homeless in New Zealand, but it just seems much closer to the surface here, and I was wondering what the difference was, what the New Zealand government might be doing that the Italian wasn’t. Then it dawned on me. New Zealand is a small island on the edge of the Earth which is exceptionally difficult to get to. Italy however is not. From what I understand, there’s quite a problem with illegal immigration here in Italy. And those immigrants have no legitimate means of supporting themselves, and they can’t get any sort of financial assistance from the Italian government as they’re not citizens. Add to this the fact that the Italian economy has been hit hard by the recession, and problems begin to show themselves. So even though they desperately want to get themselves to a better place for both them and their children, it’s so hard for them because the Government won’t recognise them.
It makes for a rather depressing situation for all those involved.
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| Goodbye Firenze, you've been wonderful. |
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| P.S. - Pizza in Pisa (Sorry, had to be done.) |
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