Lucca's spot

Monday, January 16, 2012

A Guided Tour of Pisa

During the 4 years I have been working as a tour guide I have always found myself trying to convince people that in Pisa there isn’t just the leaning tower (not only tourists but also Italians!). The city is to blame in many ways, because they count on the advertisement of one of the most famous monuments in the world and couldn’t care less about the rest of the city…as an obvious result, so do most of the tourists that come to visit. I have noticed that many people don’t even know that the famous leaning tower is nothing more than the bell tower to one of the most stunning cathedrals in Italy and that it is located in the so called Miracle SQUARE…hence, there are another 3 monuments and 2 museums in the same square; of these three monuments, all of them hold a historical and/or an architectural record and are all breathtaking. The fact that the square is surrounded by an array of cheap-looking, touristy market vendors that sell the same ‘made in China’ souvenirs (that nowadays you can find everywhere in the world) does not help the projected, world-wide, image of it at all. To make things worse, the main streets, that lead in to the square, are again filled with foreign, ‘in your face’, knick-knack vendors, bars and cafes that are way past tourist-traps, one of the most ‘historical’ McDonalds… and typical New York, Little Italy style restaurants… with the waiters desperately trying to pull you in, so they can feed you one of the most expensive pizzas that are around. So I fully understand the first impact people have when they arrive in Pisa…speaking of arriving, the station closer to the tower is Pisa San Rossore… You can literally read on people’s faces what they are thinking when they get off the train…’Where on earth have we landed? In the middle of nowhere?’, ‘Which way do we go now?’, ‘Where is someone we can ask for directions or even a map of the city?’… So at this point, you are probably thinking, why in the world is she trying to convince people to come to Pisa??!! One of the miracles of the so called Miracle Square (which by personal experience only works on people who are interested in history, art, architecture etc. and not by Cheap knick-knacks or McDonalds) is that it will enwrap you into a cocoon of beauty and amazement. Once you are in front or inside these architectural wonders, with someone (hopefully me) explaining and showing you all the details, that otherwise you’d miss, you will automatically forget about the surroundings of the square. So I can totally guarantee that you will not regret one little bit visiting this beautiful square accompanied by a tour guide, who will not only explain and make you appreciate the city, but will also save you from all these tourist traps and in my case, will come and pick you up from the station, so you don’t get lost! Finally, even if after all this, you are not totally convinced by my reasons, you still can't miss seeing one of the most famous monuments in the world! If you'd like to read further information on Pisa follow this link: http://www.mlftuscantours.it/en/itinerari/citta/pisa By Maria L. Felice