Thanks all. So I think I may be leaning towards Siena… Have such great memories from my honeymoon in '05. And I still remember this place that made this pizza-like dish, except it came out on a big flat baking sheet with an upper and lower crust, and the inside was just this molten delicious mess of cheese and ham. People were queued up and waited for each one to come out and I think I waited 30 - 40 minutes so I could get a corner “slice” and I’ve dreamed of it ever since…
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One more vote for Bologna with so many great restaurant choices. There’s Osteria Bottega for starters.
This 12 year old post (i can hardly believe it) may be useful. I think about it whenever I see those tall mounds in gelato shops.
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Something funny I saw, I think on a wall near Piazza Del Campo during my stay earlier this year. Maybe Piazza Grande in Arezzo. Uggg. I turned off my google photo locations.
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Skip Pisa - go to Lucca, walk the wall (or rent bikes!). Have lunch in Pz. Anfiteatro, and catch a Puccini concert or shop till your drop. Plenty of choices for a great dinner. If you do end up in Pisa, skip the touristy tower - walk along the Arno or take a boat ride if they are running.
Skip the tower? Why?
Yeah.
Going to Lucca and not stopping at Pisa to see the tower would be like going to Rome (for the first time) and not stopping by the Vatican because, you know, you were too busy eating Cacio e Pepe and Pizza al taglio.
Yes, it’s a tourist attraction (maybe even a trap) but you are a tourist.
And it’s what the place is known for. I wouldn’t expect someone with just a few days to spend in New York to hit up every tourist attraction. But studiously avoiding all them seems pretty silly.
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If you’re visiting NYC for the first time and skip the Statute of Liberty, then you deserve to walk home.
Yeah, there’s only one of those. Lots of cities have great museums and big parks and flashy neon areas.
Well now I feel wretched. My sister and I just took a trip in the area. I’d been to the area several times, but my sister hadn’t been to Pisa, and I wasn’t enthusiastic about spending a day there. We went to Florence for the day instead. I’m not sure if DIL saw the statue when we took her to New York either.
Don’t feel bad.
Now you have another reason to go back! And soon.
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JMO - we all travel differently. I just think Lucca (or Siena) offers a different experience. I prefer “off the beaten” path, and that doesn’t mean everyone does or needs to.
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I am so ready to go back to the Tuscany region, but I won’t be going to Pisa. I guess if I was going with my sister again, I’d share this thread. I shared a few HO threads with her, but they were about food advice, not travel advice.
I’m fine with off the beaten path, but sometimes the path is beaten for reason: because it’s really cool.
But you did remind me of someone I met in maybe Wyoming? who said she had taken a trip to New York - her first - and stayed in Queens the whole time. I asked why she hadn’t gone into Manhattan, and she said she thought it would be hard to get to, because it’s an island.
So are we.
We are going back to Florence, and plan on doing a bunch of day trips to Tuscany (Cortonia, San Gimignano, etc.), Carrara and Bologna. Maybe a few others.
Going in April next year.
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