While Cinzia was looking around on-line for local events she came across Dolcement 2011. This was to take place 1-2 October in Pisa. This would be their 7th year hosting the event. We decided to make a roadtrip, or treno trip, to Pisa on Saturday. Tickets were only €5,90 each, one way, from Florence. So, on Saturday, we headed off early and caught the 8:30am train to Pisa. The weather was great – clear, sunny, and in the mid 80s. In fact, we’ve had wonderful weather during our entire stay. Some days were hot, but there were only two brief spots of rain the entire trip.
We arrived in Pisa an hour later. The city is small. Think of it as a circle with the train station at the 6 o’clock position, the Arno River cutting across the center from 9 o’clock to 3 o’clock, and the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa at 12 o’clock. The old walls still encircle much of the city. We found that Dolcemente was being held in a hall near the train station and was to open its doors at 10am. As seems to be the Italian way, the doors didn’t open until closer to 10:15am. Admission was €5.
There were probably 50-60 vendors set up in two aisles. There were booths selling chocolates, cakes, jams, liquors, gelati, teas, cookies, and other sweets. Plenty of samples were available too. We ate our way down one side of the aisle and back up the other. All the vendors were proud of their products, had beautiful displays, and were happy to tell you all about what it is that you were eating. Some vendors were from surrounding towns, but a few came from as far away as France.
Cinzia’s favorites were the small chocolate balls filled with liquor – prosecco, Vin Santo, limoncello, rum, etc. She bought a small bag at the end of the day. I bought a small jar of fig jam.
Cinzia’s favorites were the small chocolate balls filled with liquor – prosecco, Vin Santo, limoncello, rum, etc. She bought a small bag at the end of the day. I bought a small jar of fig jam.
Out back we found the “Gli Amici del Panforte”, or The Friends of Panforte. This was an odd, overly enthusiastic, group of guys whose hobby it was to toss a round of panforte onto a small table. Of course they wanted us to have a try. Cinzia went 0-5 and I was only a bit more successful landing 1 of my cakes on the table. One of the Amici gave Cinzia a small keychain figure called “Dr. Dance” from a web radio station in Pisa. He asked her to take a photo of Dr. Dance on the beach in Florida and send it to him. He seemed very excited. Like I said, an odd, overly enthusiastic, group of guys.
After 2 hours of Dolcemente we headed towards the Arno in search of lunch. We found a small restaurant and had our risotto and lasagna “al fresco”. It was nothing to write home about. (Not sure why I typed this then.) Oh well.
Onward to the Leaning Tower of Pisa, or as the locals call it, the campanile. We’ve both seen this a couple times in the past already, but it’s still amazing. It really should have toppled over by now. A couple years ago they cleaned it up and now it’s nice a white The tower was begun in 1173 and is about 184 feet tall (depending on which side you measure). The tower now leans 4° off center. This is the original tilt. It had gotten as bad as 5.5° prior to restoration. They’re obviously looking to recoup those restoration costs pretty quickly by way of a €15 ticket if you’d like to climb to the top. We passed on that and opted to see the Duomo instead.
Onward to the Leaning Tower of Pisa, or as the locals call it, the campanile. We’ve both seen this a couple times in the past already, but it’s still amazing. It really should have toppled over by now. A couple years ago they cleaned it up and now it’s nice a white The tower was begun in 1173 and is about 184 feet tall (depending on which side you measure). The tower now leans 4° off center. This is the original tilt. It had gotten as bad as 5.5° prior to restoration. They’re obviously looking to recoup those restoration costs pretty quickly by way of a €15 ticket if you’d like to climb to the top. We passed on that and opted to see the Duomo instead.
The Duomo’s biggest draws are its doors and the elaborately carved pulpit - the masterworks of medieval sculpture Giovanni Pisano. It was well worth the €2 price of admission.
On our walk back across the Arno we spotted a small church along the river called Santa Maria della Spina. It was closed, so we just took a photo of the exterior. Very cute.
Earlier at Dolcemente at the gelato booth we tasted three unique flavors – saffron gelato, persimmon sorbetto, and a sangiovese sorbetto. We asked the girl where their gelateria was so we could buy some later in the day. She gave us her card and circled its location on our map. It was along the Arno and was called De’ Coltelli. We found the shop on our way back from the Piazza del Duomo. It had a long line, but they didn’t serve any of those three flavors! So it was back to Dolcemente where we picked up our candy and jam and bought the €2 size cup from this seemingly helpful girl (although she messed up Cinzia’s order and only gave her one flavor). We sat watching the Amici toss panforte while we finished our gelati and sorbetti.
It was almost 7pm and we decided to stay in Pisa for dinner. We asked the gelato girl if she could recommend a good pizza place in town. We were hoping we would not have to cross the Arno again. We were tired. She and her friend scoured our map looking back in the area of the Leaning Tower, but then settled on a pizzeria along the Arno called Fanicula. So we began walking back towards the center of Pisa. We arrived at Fanicula at 7:20pm. The place was empty, so I suspected they weren’t opened yet. One of the employees looks up, I presume the woman in charge, and says, “Full.” Her accent is thick and she can’t possibly mean they’re full. She repeats, “Full”. We’re standing there in amazement but then she says “Open at 8.” Ok, we’re both tired and there’s a small bar right next to the pizzeria, so I order a Coke and Cinzia has a Spritz.
We enjoy the view and watch the passing people for the next 40 minutes. Sometimes people duck inside Fanicula only to be seen walking back out. We wait a little past 8pm and at 8:10pm I settle the bar tab (only €6, by the way, as opposed to €9,80 to €17,80 for the same drinks in Florence) and we head into Fanicula. There are already customers sitting at 2 tables – the rest of the place is empty. We ask for a table for 2 and are again told “Full” by the same lady. This must be one of the rare pizzerias that take reservations and everyone’s coming in later. She says that she could get us a table at 10:30pm. We saw that they have a second location (probably the one the gelato girl was initially looking for on our map). It’s by the Leaning Tower and is called, you guessed it, Faniculi. We get direction, but the lady decides to call first to make sure they can accommodate us. Alas, they are also “full”. I can’t believe they’re discriminate against tourists, but we’ve seen this before where a place will take reservations for seatings at 9pm or 9:30pm and say they’re full at 8pm. Oh well.
With that we walk back down the main street in Pisa and spot a small trattoria on a side street. We get a table inside and order a couple pizzas – mine with mascarpone and speck, and Cinzia with smoked cheese and cherry tomatoes. Both were delicious! We head out of there just after 9pm.
I think there’s a train back to Florence at 9:32pm, but Cinzia doesn’t want to rush to make it. There seem to be trains every 30 minutes. We get to the train station just after 9:30pm only to find that the next train is at 10:30pm (and the one after that is at 1:30am). We buy our tickets at the kiosk and wait in the hotel across the street. It’s the same hotel we stayed at 10 years ago when our tour group stopped in Pisa for a night. The train to Florence is only 2 cars, but new models, and is packed with young people heading into the big city on a Saturday night. It was an entertaining trip home. We got back to our apartment after midnight and collapsed in bed. We’ll have sweet dreams of Dolcemente 2011.
If you’d like to see more photos from our trip to Pisa, click on the “Pisa” submenu tab in our Photo Gallery.
It was almost 7pm and we decided to stay in Pisa for dinner. We asked the gelato girl if she could recommend a good pizza place in town. We were hoping we would not have to cross the Arno again. We were tired. She and her friend scoured our map looking back in the area of the Leaning Tower, but then settled on a pizzeria along the Arno called Fanicula. So we began walking back towards the center of Pisa. We arrived at Fanicula at 7:20pm. The place was empty, so I suspected they weren’t opened yet. One of the employees looks up, I presume the woman in charge, and says, “Full.” Her accent is thick and she can’t possibly mean they’re full. She repeats, “Full”. We’re standing there in amazement but then she says “Open at 8.” Ok, we’re both tired and there’s a small bar right next to the pizzeria, so I order a Coke and Cinzia has a Spritz.
We enjoy the view and watch the passing people for the next 40 minutes. Sometimes people duck inside Fanicula only to be seen walking back out. We wait a little past 8pm and at 8:10pm I settle the bar tab (only €6, by the way, as opposed to €9,80 to €17,80 for the same drinks in Florence) and we head into Fanicula. There are already customers sitting at 2 tables – the rest of the place is empty. We ask for a table for 2 and are again told “Full” by the same lady. This must be one of the rare pizzerias that take reservations and everyone’s coming in later. She says that she could get us a table at 10:30pm. We saw that they have a second location (probably the one the gelato girl was initially looking for on our map). It’s by the Leaning Tower and is called, you guessed it, Faniculi. We get direction, but the lady decides to call first to make sure they can accommodate us. Alas, they are also “full”. I can’t believe they’re discriminate against tourists, but we’ve seen this before where a place will take reservations for seatings at 9pm or 9:30pm and say they’re full at 8pm. Oh well.
With that we walk back down the main street in Pisa and spot a small trattoria on a side street. We get a table inside and order a couple pizzas – mine with mascarpone and speck, and Cinzia with smoked cheese and cherry tomatoes. Both were delicious! We head out of there just after 9pm.
I think there’s a train back to Florence at 9:32pm, but Cinzia doesn’t want to rush to make it. There seem to be trains every 30 minutes. We get to the train station just after 9:30pm only to find that the next train is at 10:30pm (and the one after that is at 1:30am). We buy our tickets at the kiosk and wait in the hotel across the street. It’s the same hotel we stayed at 10 years ago when our tour group stopped in Pisa for a night. The train to Florence is only 2 cars, but new models, and is packed with young people heading into the big city on a Saturday night. It was an entertaining trip home. We got back to our apartment after midnight and collapsed in bed. We’ll have sweet dreams of Dolcemente 2011.
If you’d like to see more photos from our trip to Pisa, click on the “Pisa” submenu tab in our Photo Gallery.