The Grand Tour to Italy - Pisa
Lucky Wednesday and O’Leary’s Aeroplane
There was a time when the Aristocrats went on a Grand Tour to Italy, probably by stage coach and latterly the Iron Road. Today our intrepid, but impoverished travellers set off on today’s equivalent - an equally tortuous trip on the M25 and Ryanair.
When you have a plane to catch the M25 contrives to be at its most congested. Today was no exception. Stationary traffic from junction 24 on the traffic news should have read Junction 17. The consequences of missing our flight to Pisa, where we were booked into a hotel, would have been very costly. Should we turn off or stick with it? We stuck and with blood pressures climbing we eventually crept our way to Junction 24 and, would you believe it, the road cleared miraculously and we made it to Stansted in good time. Must be our lucky day!
Case Sensitive
The next hurdle is to get through Ryanair check-in with our hand and pocket baggage. Being Ryanair regulars we know the routine. Some way ahead of us was a foreign ‘yoof’ who took exception to having to measure his bag. The bag gauge is a tubular frame you can force your bag into without too much difficulty even if it is over-size. The problem comes when you try to remove it. It’s like trying to get a bone off a Rottweiller!
It grips the bag like a vice. ‘Look it fits’ said the dude, ‘now remove it punk’ said the check-in Lady in as many words. He went blue in the face but eventually pulled it free. She let him pass but he let off a stream of expletives as he headed off to rejoin his family. Right you are not travelling! So Daddy and the boy from Brazil were left behind whilst Mummy and young daughter continued to Pisa. Meanwhile I had passed through with a jolly ‘good evening’, a bag also a bit large, an extra bag with refreshments for the flight, a book and several newspapers. TW was stopped. After removing a couple of books she also managed to ram a bag into the tubular jaws but couldn’t pull it out. So, yours truly, had to re-cross the line and pull Excalibur free whilst looking as inconspicuous as possible. So with books under arm we very quietly tiptoed off towards the 737. A flight to Pisa and then a 10 Euro taxi and we were in our Hotel. Pisa airport is almost in the town! Saw the first snow of winter on the shoulders of our Night Porter. With Olympic standard dandruff he should have worn a lighter suit. Text from TK - Spurs have won 3-0 and into the next round – M25 a distant memory. Hotel was fine, Terminus and Plaza near the Railway Station (78 Euros inc. breakfast).
Lean Times in Pisa
Next morning took the bus to the Tower of Pisa, the most famous case of subsidence in the world. TW had been there before as a child. Her Mum would not let her walk within half a mile of it in case it fell on her head! Must let TMIL know it’s still standing. The Cathedral is pretty impressive and free to enter.
Quite a number of tourists still around in November. A lot of them Japanese. Not sure how much interest the average Japanese salary man has in renaissance architecture and Christian iconography; my experience is that they would be happier in a pub singing Karaoke. Anyway they were taking plenty of pictures to show the folks at home. They amused themselves by pretending to hold up the tower, can you believe it, how childish! We headed off for Florence by train, it only takes an hour and costs 5Euro60.
There was a time when the Aristocrats went on a Grand Tour to Italy, probably by stage coach and latterly the Iron Road. Today our intrepid, but impoverished travellers set off on today’s equivalent - an equally tortuous trip on the M25 and Ryanair.
When you have a plane to catch the M25 contrives to be at its most congested. Today was no exception. Stationary traffic from junction 24 on the traffic news should have read Junction 17. The consequences of missing our flight to Pisa, where we were booked into a hotel, would have been very costly. Should we turn off or stick with it? We stuck and with blood pressures climbing we eventually crept our way to Junction 24 and, would you believe it, the road cleared miraculously and we made it to Stansted in good time. Must be our lucky day!
Case Sensitive
The next hurdle is to get through Ryanair check-in with our hand and pocket baggage. Being Ryanair regulars we know the routine. Some way ahead of us was a foreign ‘yoof’ who took exception to having to measure his bag. The bag gauge is a tubular frame you can force your bag into without too much difficulty even if it is over-size. The problem comes when you try to remove it. It’s like trying to get a bone off a Rottweiller!
It grips the bag like a vice. ‘Look it fits’ said the dude, ‘now remove it punk’ said the check-in Lady in as many words. He went blue in the face but eventually pulled it free. She let him pass but he let off a stream of expletives as he headed off to rejoin his family. Right you are not travelling! So Daddy and the boy from Brazil were left behind whilst Mummy and young daughter continued to Pisa. Meanwhile I had passed through with a jolly ‘good evening’, a bag also a bit large, an extra bag with refreshments for the flight, a book and several newspapers. TW was stopped. After removing a couple of books she also managed to ram a bag into the tubular jaws but couldn’t pull it out. So, yours truly, had to re-cross the line and pull Excalibur free whilst looking as inconspicuous as possible. So with books under arm we very quietly tiptoed off towards the 737. A flight to Pisa and then a 10 Euro taxi and we were in our Hotel. Pisa airport is almost in the town! Saw the first snow of winter on the shoulders of our Night Porter. With Olympic standard dandruff he should have worn a lighter suit. Text from TK - Spurs have won 3-0 and into the next round – M25 a distant memory. Hotel was fine, Terminus and Plaza near the Railway Station (78 Euros inc. breakfast).
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| Saving TW from a sore head! (Think I am turning Japanese) |
Next morning took the bus to the Tower of Pisa, the most famous case of subsidence in the world. TW had been there before as a child. Her Mum would not let her walk within half a mile of it in case it fell on her head! Must let TMIL know it’s still standing. The Cathedral is pretty impressive and free to enter.
Quite a number of tourists still around in November. A lot of them Japanese. Not sure how much interest the average Japanese salary man has in renaissance architecture and Christian iconography; my experience is that they would be happier in a pub singing Karaoke. Anyway they were taking plenty of pictures to show the folks at home. They amused themselves by pretending to hold up the tower, can you believe it, how childish! We headed off for Florence by train, it only takes an hour and costs 5Euro60.
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