A week in Pisa and Lucca that we didn't think would happen

Somehow, despite all the travel restrictions, cancelled flights and general covid-induced chaos, our trip to Italy at the end of July was still possible. A couple of months ago I was convinced it would all get cancelled. But fast-forward to a two weeks before the trip and our plans were still intact, so we packed our bags, put on our face-masks and headed for Pisa and Lucca.

You've probably heard of Pisa, it's got that big wonky tower in the middle of it. Lucca is another city in Tuscany, about half an hour from Pisa by train and a great place to eat yourself into a pizza/pasta induced coma if you fancy it. It's packed with great cafes, restaurants and bars scattered throughout its old town area.

Pisa was probably a lot quieter than usual at this time of year because of coronavirus, which meant Piazza del Duomo where the Leaning Tower is located was less packed with people than it would be normally. Climbing the stairs of the leaning tower cost a slightly exorbitant €18 but it seemed foolish to visit one of the most iconic buildings in the world and not go up it.

Lucca is Pisa's quieter, more laid back cousin and you can spend hours just walking round it, losing yourself down various narrow streets and seeing which part of the city you re-emerge in. All while eating delicious gelato or stopping off for a coffee, of course.     

While travel is certainly possible at the moment, it's different. It was very noticeable in Italy how much more on the ball they are with wearing masks than we are in the UK. Walk into a shop, museum or hotel and you put your mask on straight away or you're not allowed in. Same goes for airports and train stations. Yes it can be uncomfortable in the heat of summer but if it means businesses can stay open because people are following the rules, then that's fine by me. 

I suspect this won't be the only trip abroad I take that requires a face-mask until the magic vaccine comes along and sorts out the coronavirus situation. Ah, what a strange time we are living in right now. The keys, wallet and phone check before leaving the house has become keys, wallet, phone and mask. Well, if that means we can travel more safely then it's a very small burden.

Stay safe, help each other out and remember things will get back to normal eventually. And in the meantime, why not gaze admiringly at the photos below. 

It does lean a bit doesn't it? Someone should probably fix that.

Who knew holidays in 2020 would include wearing a face-mask everywhere? The Leaning Tower of Pisa decided to take it one step further, by issuing visitors climbing the tower with a buzzer you wear around your neck, which goes off if you stand too close to someone else. But that included people in your party, so it went off all the time and was probably a bit of a waste of time and money for the tourism board if you ask me. 

I was challenged to take an 'ironic' leaning on the leaning tower picture. I rose to that challenge.

Keith Haring went to Pisa in 1989 and painted this huge mural on the side of a building near the train station.

Rose and Harriet in front of a door in Lucca that's clearly much too large for them. Or perhaps they are too small.  

A view along the waterways of Lucca. Can't really call it a canal as you couldn't fit a boat along it, more of a walled river I guess.

Lion statue that watches over Lucca. 

The church of San Michelle in Lucca dates back to the 795AD and was rebuilt in 1070. So it's pretty old. And just behind it is an excellent pizza place called Pizzeria Pellegrini that has been going since 1972. Not quite as old but still pretty good going. 

Touristing hard around the walls of Lucca on a four seater bike/wagon. Fun way to spend an hour. 

That's Manel on the front, he is Portuguese but also speaks Italian and English because other countries are much better at learning languages than us British and Irish folk.

The gardens of Villa Garzoni in Collodi. Collodi sounds more like it should be a rural town in Ireland but is in fact a town near Lucca which also contains Pinocchio Park, an attraction much-loved by the Irish contingent on our trip.

A section of Piazza dell Anfiteatro in Lucca. The buildings go all the way round it like a large amphitheatre, hence the name.  

I think this building is the Institute of Botany in Lucca but don't quote me on that. It's in the botanic garden anyway so it's got something to do with plants. 

Ate a lot of gelato on this holiday. I'm not normally one for getting ice cream in a non-edible container but I wanted to pour some coffee onto the ice cream and do a DIY affogato. Because I'm classy. 

Back in Pisa and a view along the Arno river. It's only now, writing this caption that I have realised this is the closest we came to seeing a sunset in Italy. And I bloody love a sunset. You don't have to get up at the crack of dawn for it like a sunrise and you can probably have a drink too. 

We walked the walls in Pisa and once you get beyond the main square you don't actually see much. However I did like the staircase at the exit, so that exposed walk in baking sun was probably worth it.

Piazza Cavalieri (Knight's Square) in Pisa. 

Cape Town and The Garden Route

South Africa had always been one of those places that I imagined would be great to visit but wasn't necessarily top of my list, with the likes of Japan or Colombia. However, once we decided we were going and I started doing some proper research it was quickly apparent that the country has a LOT to offer.

For a start, food and drink costs half of what it does in the UK. You can go to some very decent restaurants for relatively little money. Then there's the scenery. Once you're out of Cape Town and into the wine region or Garden Route, there's no shortage of stunning views, rolling hills, green forested mountains, endless plains, that sort of thing.

That isn't to say South Africa doesn't have its problems. Poverty is very visible, from the large townships on the edge of all major towns and cities to the homelessness in Cape Town. Or the advice (which we followed) that you should get taxis after dark in the capital. I wouldn't say we ever felt unsafe but the streets did become completely empty after sunset in a way I'd find strange in any other major city.

But every country has its own problems (cough Brexit cough) and to focus too much on them would do South Africa a disservice. I loved it there and would happily go back again. It was always sunny and warm, the aforementioned food was excellent, the people were friendly and there was loads to do and see. There was tons of stuff we didn't have time to do in both Cape Town and on the Garden Route.

Our trip began with three days in the wine region, staying in a homestead on a vineyard near Wellington, followed by a road trip along the Garden Route before heading back for four days in Cape Town. It was 10 days altogether but we could have easily spent much longer there and detoured from the Garden Route a bit more, or spent more time checking out the many amazing beaches dotted along the coast.

If you made me pick some highlights, they might be:

• Climbing Table Mountain
• Cape Point Nature Reserve
• Driving along the Garden Route - beautiful scenery all the way
• National Art Gallery of South Africa, in Company Gardens (much better art and cheaper entry than the Zeitz Museum, which was a bit pretentious in my opinion)
• The Stack - restaurant in Cape Town
• The food in general
• Monkeyland, near Plettenberg Bay

 Stellenbosch is worth a visit, to wander round and check out the university museum/art gallery and its various cafes and shops.

 Obligatory holiday sunset photo, from the vineyard near Wellington.

The vineyard's homestead and our home for three nights. The bell in the foreground was known as a slave bell, used to signal the start and end of the working day for slaves back in the times of slavery.  There are a lot of these bells still standing in rural areas, acting as reminders of history.

On our way to the Garden Route we stopped at a great example of the 'weird roadside cafe' genre. The menu was exclusively things with chips (or just chips on their own) and it had a barn that contained the world's biggest knitted jumper, complete with certificate from Guinness World Records.

Near Plettenburg Bay was Monkeyland and Birds of Eden. Monleyland is a "free roaming" monkey sanctuary, largely for monkeys that have been abandoned or suffered some kind of cruelty. They are rehabilitated here and some are released back into the wild. I'm not really a fan of zoos or anything resembling them but this was more like a giant forest you could walk through (with a guide).

 

 One of the lemurs in Monkeyland. It was an odd sensation at first, walking through a forest with loads of monkeys completely ignoring you and running/climbing about but it was a memorable experience and I would definitely recommend.

When you buy a ticket for Monkeyworld you can double up and see Birds of Eden too, which is the biggest bird enclosure I've ever seen - it was vast. Plenty of room for birds of all kinds of species to fly about. Or as these two seemed to prefer, just perch on a walkway and watch people go by. 

Taken from a viewpoint called Map Of Africa, near Wilderness on the Garden Route.

The entrance to the museum just off the central courtyard of the Castle of Good Hope. It was built in the 17th century and changed hands a few times between various colonial oppressors (largely British and Dutch) before it was declared a historical monument in 1936. We went on the guided tour, which was much better than the 'key ceremony' - essentially a bunch of people in old fashioned military uniforms faffing about handing a key back and forth for 10 minutes.

 Some might say this is a metaphor for going on holiday with me for 10 days, but they would be liars because I am delightful company.

One of the colourful buildings in the Bo-Kaap area of Cape Town. It was formerly known as the Malay Quarter and has a largely Muslim population.

 More brightly painted houses in Bo Kaap. It was very photogenic, as you can tell from my top notch photography skills and was an absolute scorcher that day.

  This restaurant in Cape Town is called The Stack and dinner here was one of the culinary highlights of the trip. Big recommend.

Penguins on Boulders Beach, south of Cape Town.

 

In Cape Point Nature Reserve, looking down at the sea from the cliffs near the lighthouse. This is somewhere I could have happily spent a couple more hours, but we got there a bit late after spending longer than expected at Boulders Beach. 

Trying to take an arty shot of the beach at the Cape of Good Hope.

And here's us doing the tourist photo in Cape Point Nature Reserve. Had to really.

View of Table Mountain just before we started climbing it. When the clouds roll in over the top like that, locals call it the 'table cloth'.

 Cape Town below from somewhere near the top of Table Mountain.

Visiting the District Six Museum was a good way to try to get an idea of the kind of ordeals and hardship people went through during Apartheid because of unchecked racism.

A view of the mountains from Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, which you can happily spend a few hours wandering about in or even take a picnic with you.

Thanks for reading and there's a few more photos from the trip on my Instagram if you're really keen.