RyanAir, Pisa, and the Taxi Driver

Ok, this is long overdue, but I wanted to sneak a quick post in about RyanAir and Pisa.

We arrived in Pisa from the Stenton Airport (North London) on August 31st. I only note that because we took RyanAir and I wanted to provide a couple notes on the "European Southwest."

First, let's talk price... Our tickets were 0.02 Pounds (+32 Pounds of Tax) each. Obviously you can't beat that...

Accomodations: The plane itself seemed newish and in good condition. It was clean and the seats were fairly nice. What was interesting was that the seats do NOT recline (which is fine with me)...and they were incredibly tight. There was not a single way I could position myself in my seat without my knees slamming into the seat in front of me. Forget about sleeping (or even getting comfortable)...I leaned a few inches forward and put my head against the seatback in front of me. :)

Food/Services: I found this the most interesting. The plane itself had ads on the overhead compartments and the intercom was constantly playing sort of an infomercial of the services they provided, which incuded expensive food, drinks, train tickets, etc.

All in all, it was totally worth it (keep in mind it cost two pence). :)

Ok, so after a two hour flight we landed in Pisa. Customs was basically non-existant and we got our baggage quickly and moved out to find two things...an ATM and a taxi. After we toured the airport a bit we found an ATM and successfully withdrew some cash. Then we strolled outside into a beautiful Italian summer day (temperature that morning was a perfect 70ish) to grab a taxi...when it dawned on us. We have to get a taxi...in Italy. We finally mustered up the courage to track one down and jumped in. We successfully told him which hotel we were headed to when the uncomfortable silence started. Anyone who's been around me knows that I do not handle uncomfortable silences well... I normally fill those with a bad joke. In addition, I was starting to feel a littlenervos...which I normally cover with...more jokes. Obviously, I couldn't lead off with a joke, so instead I ried to ask in Italian if the driver spoke English. His response?

"Yes, I speak a little English. It's very important for someone visiting another country to speak the language of the country."

Ok, now I was uncomfortable, nervous, and the taxi driver had just hit my third biggest issue...guilt. We talked a little more and to be fair, his meaning to his first comment seemed to be more "It's important to try speaking Italian while you're here -- it will be appreciated." Still, it was about the worst first exchange I could have hoped for because I was now completely intimidated. :)

That intimidation was apparent later that day when Rob and I, after wandering aimlessly around the outskirts of Pisa (for about 4 hours) refused to ask for directions. The good news though, was that we persevered and finally found the tower. You know, the tippy one. I have to admit the tower and surrounding cathedral and baptistery were more impressive than I originally expected, everything in white marble. The angle of the lean was bigger than I expected as well. After talking Rob into it, we bought some tickets to climb the tower, which was definitely the highlight of the day. Climbing the tower, winding up the tilted, circular stairway, was a bit disorienting. Once to the top, it was just creepy. Onone side you at east leaned inwards, but on the other the outward lean was a recipe for vertigo. After our tower time, we hit a local ristorante and enjoyed a couple of delicious pizzas before concluding our day. We opted for a taxi ride back this time as we had been walking for ~7 hours after a night with no sleep. The rest is history...or at least already blogged in my "Rob's snoring post." :)