Finishing off Tuscany

(Sorry guys, this is a rather long post... but keep reading!)

Watch out!  It's falling!  Oh, wait...

As mentioned at the end of my previous blog entry, Nick and I decided to spend our last day in the Tuscan region by heading out of Florence and spending some time in Pisa, just over an hour’s train ride from central Florence.  All I was really expecting of Pisa was a tower on a slight lean.

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.

Goodbye Firenze, you've been wonderful.

Anyway, that’s my rant for today.  Tomorrow, out of Tuscany and up to the Cinque Terre.

P.S. - Pizza in Pisa (Sorry, had to be done.)

Firenze in autunno

There was a storm the day we arrived.

A huge storm with lightning and thunder and bucketloads of rain.  

I mention this becuase, during the storm, we were sitting on the terrace of a Tuscan villa.  Outside of Florence.  Drinking chianti.  

Right now, my life could be a lot worse.

Views like this are standard practice around this city.

Yes, we have arrived safe and sound in Florence, the home of the Italian Renaissance.  And it is truly a beautiful city.  The city is this interesting mix between small passage ways and vast open squares and the beautiful Arno river snaking its way past the city, and all of this placed amongst the beautiful hills of Tuscany.

On top of that autumn is now in full swing which means that, even though the temperatures are still in the mid twenties (w00t!), the leaves are falling.  All the colours match with the beautiful browns of the city.

After settling in on Sunday, we used Monday to get out and have a look around the town.  Here's a hint for future travelers, Mondays are good days to travel around Europe because a lot of the sights are closed. Anyway, we still managed to find plenty to do.  

First off, a walk along the Arno River and making our way up to Ponto Vecchio, a beautiful bridge across the river with built in shops.  There we saw the local authorities using bolt-cutters and power tools to remove all the padlocks that young lovers had put in place.  I wonder what happens to the couples when the bond is broken...

Then up to the Palazza Vecchio (The city's Town Hall), which is filled with beautiful artwork and overlooks the Piazza della Signoria which is filled with amazing statues.  Off to the Palazzo Medici Riccardi, the Palace of the Medicis (Remnants of this family are everywhere in this city!).

After two palaces in one day, we decided to head up to the Piazzale Michelangiolo.  If you do nothing else during your stay of the city, go here!  It's quite a walk, however the views out over the city and surrounds are second to none.  It is simply astonishing.

Then a quiet dinner and bottle of wine back at the villa.

The Firenze Duomo

Today we have completely arted ourselves out (is arted a word?).  Starting off with the Uffizi Gallery, which took a two hour queue to get into, but well worth it.  Sculpture and painting overload, but so much to see!  Probably what strikes me the most is the Bottocelli's Birth of Venus... I kept imagining Terry Gilliam doing the animations of it! (Original and Python version for those who have no idea what I'm talking about...)

Then, after lunch, we went to the Palazzo Pitti, a staggeringly large palace (yes, another palace) once owned by the Medicis (Yes, again...) with a huge collection of art.

So, after two staggeringly large art collections, we decided to... of course, go to another art gallery.  However, this time it was the Galleria Dell'Accademia.  This one is slightly special.  There, in pride of place, stood Michaelangelo's David.  I was standing at the feet of one of the greatest sculptures known to man.  And it was truly awe-inspiring.  The size, the level of attention to detail, it was just amazing.  A must do.

The Pitti Palace

So tomorrow, finishing off Florence then an afternoon in Piza.  Expect trashy touristy photos of running away/pushing down a certain tower.

Okay, time to get some sleep.  Lots of walking done today!