Pisa

We got the 11.30am bus from the site, into Pisa. The bus timetables strike me as a bit odd as, there was a bus back at 2.30pm then the next one wasn't until 6.05pm, and the next after that was 8pm. This doesn't sound too bad until you realise how little time you will actually spend in Pisa, seeing the sights.

Pleasant stroll

Alice from the site at Tamerici dropped us off at the bus stop which saved us about a one kilometre walk, and was gratefully accepted! The bus stops in the nearby village for ten minutes or so and the bus driver spent the whole time chatting to us, asking where we were from, football, the weather, his desire to visit England, he was lovely.
When we got to Pisa, he told us to stay on the bus after the last stop, and he would show us where we needed to get the return bus from, later that day. How's that for service?

'To me, to you...'

Although we went into Pisa twice, first time Sue and me, second time, me with Harry the nephew, (see When Harry met Harry) I've included pictures from both visits, so as not to overcook the Pisa visits or, hopefully, confuse anyone!

River Arno

Pisa is a nice place to wander around town without any fear of getting hopelessly lost and, just about everyone, is heading for the tower or coming away from the tower. The city is split by the tuscan river Arno but it hardly gets a mention. There's also a small curch on the banks of the river Arno, the Santa Maria Della Spina, dating from 1200, barely a mention. That tower is stealing all the glory!

Santa Maria Church

We walked through a smaller version of Barcelona's 'La Ramblas' and came to the wall which makes up the Piazza del Duomo, inside which is Cathedral square.
Which ever direction you take to Cathedral Square, the effect when you first see the leaning tower, will be the same. 

Entrance to the Piazza

It's enormous! Far bigger than I had anticipated and truly impressive. The lean, for which it is most well known, of course, is far greater than anticipated from any pictures you may have seen. I think that this is because most photos can't capture the true lean given the areas from which the pictures have to be taken. 

Harry let's his 'cool' slip, to pose

There's a large area of manicured lawn that no one is allowed on to. This restricts the angle at which pictures can be taken. Cathedral square is in itself an amazing place housing the Steeple (leaning tower, to you and me!) the Cathedral, the Baptistry, and the Graveyard. Still, no matter which way you look at it, the tower steals the show.

When Harry met Harry (cont)

The next morning, we waited for the pet hospital to ring us with an update. It never came In the end, we rang him and they said he was 'calmer' but that they were not happy with releasing him until he had eaten, something he had refused to do overnight.

We told them that we were coming to collect him. We were both far from happy with the way this was proceeding. When we got there, we were again told that he had to eat something before they would release him. Undeterred we simply took him from the cage they had left him in, and asked if we needed to sign anything, he wasn't spending another minute in there.

Of course there was a bill to pay. It's quite expensive to have your dog sleep in a cage and not eat any food. Nonetheless, we paid it without fuss and set off back to the site. We could monitor him ourselves. We just hoped we had made the right decision.

Harry's current condition meant that we had to adjust our plans as we couldn't leave him alone in the van which, had it been just the two of us, wouldn't have been an issue but, Harry nephew had to be considered.

After we all had a chat it was agreed that I would take Harry in to Pisa the next morning, then when we moved on to Florence, Sue would visit the city with Harry nephew and I would stay back at the van.

To his great credit, Harry nephew was just brilliant about the whole situation. He just told us that if we needed to take a couple of days off to monitor the dog, then he understood, and was fine with it. We are both grateful to him for that.

When Harry met Harry

Pisa was almost a no show for us. Too many people had said that, once you've seen the tower, there isn't much else to see. Barry, the aussie we'd met at the last site put it into perspective for us when he said, 'I can't come all this way and then tell people back home that I didn't go to Pisa, when we were so close to it.' That got me thinking, and he was right. So what if the internet is full of people 'holding up' the tower, and maybe there wasn't much else to see or do but, we should still decide for ourselves, otherwise, we might as well stay at home and look at the pictures on the internet.

You should see for yourself!

We headed for Camping Lago Le Tamerici where we knew we could get a bus to Pisa. As we got near we passed the back of Pisa airport, significant only because, our nephew, Harry Watkinson had shown an interest in joining us in Italy for a few days. The plan was to fly over, rent a chalet, or similar on the site were were on, spend a few days in Italy, then fly home. Pisa airport being this close presented an opportunity for him to get more out of his trip. 

I contacted him via messenger and suggested that, if he got himself a tent, he could fly out to Pisa, then move on with us to Florence, and then down to Rome. A much better prospect for him than a one site, few day visit.

This suggestion was greeted enthusiastically by him, but also set his head spinning as there was a deadline. We couldn't sit around for weeks waiting for him to 'prepare' so it was, in the next week or never! Luckily for him, he works for his dad, Gary, and getting some time off at short notice was not a problem.
It was all set then, he would fly out on the following Saturday and begin his Italian adventure.

In the meantime, we decided that rather than sit around, we would go in to Pisa and do the visit, that way when Harry came out, we would have a better idea of where we were going.

At Tamerici, you can get a lift down to the bus stop from staff at the site, which we took advantage of. Frederica and Alice were amazing while we were there and made us feel very welcome in the idyllic surroundings of the site. One of the things that they helped us with, was finding a vet for the other Harry, Sues' Yorkie, who appeared to have an ear infection. We took him off to the vet hospital near Pisa, where he was prescribed ear drops, a painkiller spray and antibiotics.

'I don't feel well....'

Sue administered a couple of the drops later that morning and Harry slept for a few hours. We tried to rouse him some time later as, even though we thought that maybe the drops and spray had made him drowsy, he hadn't so much as lifted his head for too long a time.
When we got his attention, his eyes were flickering side to side and he seemed a bit spaced out. We carried him outside and he could hardly stand. We put it down, yet again, to the painkiller spray and drops making him drowsy.

The next morning, although not in any discomfort, he was pretty much the same. Now we knew that this wasn't right and took him back to the vet hospital. 

Times like this are when you feel the full frustration of not having the language. Three people were in the room and all, it seemed, had their own diagnosis. 'He's going blind' announced one. 'He's deaf' announced another, 'It looks like a mental disorder' declared the third. Unfortunately, the Vet that had seen him the day before wasn't on duty and it was hard to get through to these three, exactly how he had been the day before.

One of the vets motioned to one of the men in the room to hold Harry while she looked in his ears. Harry screamed and howled while this went on, so much so, I had to leave the room. Sue stayed and could only watch as her 'baby' went through this seemingly rough treatment. When Sue came out, minus Harry, she told me that they wanted to keep him in for observation.

'Will this affect my driving?'

We drove back to the site, wondering what the hell we had done to him. It was almost beyond belief that he was in this state.
We had to compose ourselves however, as Harry the nephew was due to land at Pisa airport in the next hour or so. We had no sooner got back, when we had to set off to the airport.

We both agreed that we had to focus on his arrival and try not to let the dogs situation affect things. It wasn't Harry W's fault that this had happened. He was spending his hard earned money to come here, encouraged by us, and we owed him our full attention.

It was good to see the 'rocker' Harry, who turned up looking like a well travelled hippy with his long hair and beard. The only thing that gave him away was his shiny new backpack and tent.
Time flies and I had him down for 19 years of age, give or take. He's 24! How did that happen? Ah well, I guess we lose track.

Settled in.

We explained the situation with his namesake, and he was, as we expected, very understanding. It was going to impact on his time with us, there was no avoiding it but, we would do our best to minimise it.

How to look Italian, two hours after arriving!

We got Harry set up in his brand new tent in the same pitch as the van, and set about feeding him in the on site restaurant which overlooks the lake. His first Italian pizza and beer, and I need to stop talking about him as though he's 13 years old! That night Sue and I discussed the situation regarding the dog and made our decision......Continue reading 

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