The day came early for us although we slept well enough. We’re still in mid-atlantic time making our way east in our brains. The hotel cost included breakfast, and I find almost all of the hotels I booked for this year’s trip are the same in this regard. Contrast that to France where almost never is it included. We weren’t expecting much as italians are known for having a shot of espresso and a pastry on the run to cover their first meal of the day (colazione). So we were surprised to find a great variety of healthy foods available including a proper espresso or cappuccino served with a smile. Muesli, yoghurt, fresh rolls, cheese, salami, butter, jam, fruit, juice – great! We got a bit carried away in fact so we only snacked at lunch.
Next up on a bit of an overcast day was to get a SIM card with data hookup from one of the several cellular providers. By my research TIM had the best coverage and a good deal for their package so we went to find the local TIM shop, which was only a couple of blocks away. Luckily the sole guy in the shop could understand techno-inglese and we were hooked up and out of there in short order. I bought a rechargeable (pay-as-you-go) SIM for 20euro which included 15euro credit. Their max internet plan is 10euro for a month for 1 Gb (gee-gah-beet said our man) which of course is ridiculously cheap by Canadian standards. It was up and running before we left the shop – cross that challenge off.
We then went and found a grocery store to pick up a bit of food for the road which also turned out to be no problem. Because of her food related exercise induced allergy Tara has to be extremely careful eating while cycling, and she gets very tired of eating muesli with warm yoghurt on a hot day for lunch. We’re trying to branch out from that menu and still stay safe.
Of course the most important activity of the day was getting the bike reassembled. It was sitting in an outside courtyard and the clouds let loose a lot of rain mid-day for a few hours so we had to wait it out. The blue sky reappeared and we quickly got it to look much like a tandem again leaving a few bits off for assembly on the street and trial run in the morning. We actually have to wheel it down a couple of hallways and take it down some spiral stairs so leaving off the pedals and chains to make it easier was our thought.
Having accomplished what we needed we headed out for a leisurely walk around and to find another good Pisan restaurant. We went close by the tower to find an open restaurant. Monday evenings can be bad as most restaurants take that evening off so sometimes you have to head to a more touristic area to get something to eat. No problem, we did well so that’s 2 for 2 for good cheap suppers in Italy.
Bike assembly on the terrazzo.
I love the predictability of the tourists.
Yes it rains in Pisa.
Church alongside the Arno.
Another Arno picture.
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