ROSS MCCARTHY TAKES a TRIP to PISA to SAMPLE the DELIGHTS of TUSCANY F YOU Have a Few Hours to Spare It Is So Close to Its Gates

Source: Manchester Evening News {Travel} Edition: Country: UK Date: Monday 9, July 2018 Page: 12 Area: 781 sq. cm Circulation: Pub Stmt 39422 Daily Ad data: page rate £10,434.60, scc rate £29.40 Phone: 0161 829 3300 Keyword: www.jet2.com

TIME FOR A PISA OF THE ACTION ROSS MCCARTHY TAKES A TRIP TO PISA TO SAMPLE THE DELIGHTS OF TUSCANY F YOU have a few hours to spare it is so close to its gates. Tuscan city is its iconic leaning tower. and decide to take a horse drawn There are rare plants Your memory can play tricks but I carriage ride through Pisa’s main and many animal am pretty sure I have visited it before, park you might get chased by a species to see, as well as on a family holiday about 40 years wild boar. wild boar, deer, foxes ago. IBut don’t worry the animal is more and possibly even a loan wolf looking Since then this tilting bell tower, interested in the horse than you, I for a mate. built on a base of sand, clay and lots was told. Because of its geographic position of water, has survived a mini Our new friend, who has a bit of a and climatic conditions it is made up earthquake and during those fearsome reputation, seemed quite of an unusual variety of intervening years has actually got a curious and kept up with me and the environments. bit straighter and is back to the angle other passengers for a while and There is a vast wooded area it was when Galileo Galilei was there were others, afterwards, who dominated by pines, but also marshy dropping objects from the top to test joined in the chase before giving up. parts, along with expanses of dunes the theory of gravity. It did occur to me that they might and natural beaches where there is It has caused a lot of headaches have been trained to do that just to the possibility of dipping your toes and was already starting to lean as it give a little thrill to the tourists. into the Med. It even contains a race was being constructed, and as our The Nature Park of course which operates during the guide, Vincenzo, told us: “They did Migliarino San Rossore winter months and can not know what to do. There is then Massacuccoli is one of accommodate 10,000 people. 100 years of discussions and the largest natural Guided tours are available with it was only because they coastal parks in Europe. excursions on foot, by bicycle, an eco corrected the centre of It is considered to be friendly train or our method, a gravity that it is still the ‘city park’ for those horse-drawn carriage. standing.” who live in Pisa because The big attraction though of this

Reproduced by Gorkana under licence from the NLA (newspapers), CLA (magazines), FT (Financial Times/ft.com) or other copyright owner. No further copying (including printing of digital cuttings), digital reproduction/forwarding of the cutting is permitted except under licence from the copyright owner. All FT content is copyright The Financial Times Ltd. Article Page 1 of 4 427656796 - NICTRE - G11679-1 - 139389936 Source: Manchester Evening News {Travel} Edition: Country: UK Date: Monday 9, July 2018 Page: 12 Area: 781 sq. cm Circulation: Pub Stmt 39422 Daily Ad data: page rate £10,434.60, scc rate £29.40 Phone: 0161 829 3300 Keyword: www.jet2.com

I climbed up to the little bit sweeter you have to wait a I enjoyed many wonderful dishes top of the 56 metre bit.” during my stay, in particular the cylinder and took in the Also in Calci is The Charterhouse, a seafood ones at La Pergoletta in Pisa, panoramic view of the former monastery, which was built in especially one of the starters Miracle Square, covered 1366 and is an impressive building combining ricotta and anchovy. by a large lawn, and with 150 rooms where the monks My nal meal was in the Park San admired the other used to live in solitude. Within the Rossore, where an array of cold cuts monuments. complex is a natural history museum were presented on a board including Next to the tower is the cathedral, which houses an incredible display an old friend – wild boar. one of the most ornate you will see in of stuffed animals and boasts a long Italy, with its 24 carat gold ceiling, window gallery with whole whale NEED TO KNOW while slightly further away is the skeletons domed Baptistry, which also leans a Those looking for an alternative to ■ ROSS McCARTHY travelled little and was built at a time when staying in Pisa might want to try one with Jet2.com which offers baptisms were events to be of the villas dotted along a ‘silk road’ flights to Pisa from Birmingham experienced by the whole running out of the town which are Airport up to two times a week community. certainly a cut above your average and also flies there from East Completing the grand collection, B&B, with winding drive ways Midlands, Leeds Bradford, on the north side, is the Monumental Manchester and Newcastle. Cemetery, which has some leading up to their doors. Built in the 15th century, Villa marvellously graphic frescoes from ■ FARES with Jet2.com start at Medieval times, including The Corliano has a number of rooms decorated with frescoes and £49 one way or you can take a Triumph of Death. city escape with Jet2CityBreaks To the north of the city is the old paintings on its high ceilings, while Villa Alta, which was once owned by at the four-star Grand Hotel town with its large student Bananno starting from £269 per population and maze of streets with a ‘crazy’ American woman who painted it all yellow, has scenic views person (based on three nights restaurants, pizzerias and kebab bed and breakfast, flights shops where you can get a pretty and a swimming pool to offer. Another place worth a detour is departing from Birmingham on cheap meal and which transforms July 12, 2018). To book flights into a vibrant scene during the Pontedera, where there is the Piaggio Museum which contains a unique visit jet2.com or for city breaks evening. visit Jet2holidays.com/city- Little bakeries offer tempting collection of Vespas, the iconic Italian made scooter, including the breaks or call free on 0800 408 pastries, such as a local speciality, a 5599. Torte Coi Bischeri, a substantial one used in Frederico Fellini’s object containing chocolate, raisins masterpiece La Dolce Vita. and pine nuts and which is a ‘meal in Lovers of history will appreciate itself.’ towns such as Lari, with its castle Travelling east you will be greeted perched on the top of a hill and by the wooded Pisa mountains, one Volterra, surrounded by medieval topped by a ruined medieval castle, walls overlooking the Cecina valley from where the grey and white stone with its narrow streets which radiate was excavated in order to construct from the main square, one leading to the buildings in Pisa. a magnicent Etruscan gate. It is an area where many olive trees Volterra is famed for its alabaster grow and in Calci there is an production and in small workshops 11-hectare estate, the Agriturismo Al you can watch craftsmen working on Palazzaccio, producing organic olive the spongy stone to make trinkets. oil and where you can eat some Like most Italian provinces the locally sourced specialities, including province of Pisa has a strong food a beautiful fresh Pecorino cheese and wine heritage and the Torre a with grape and pepper jam and a Cenaia Estate is one of the wine wobbly marmalade pannacotta to die producing farms you can visit to taste for. some of its ne wines and beers. During a tour of the grounds, the If you have ever wondered how woman running the business pasta is made, go to the family run described the oil-making process Martelli business in Lari which has saying: “Nothing is added. It is been producing their own special pressed from the olive. It has to be brand, which is dried for 50 hours, done immediately. If you want it a since 1926.

Reproduced by Gorkana under licence from the NLA (newspapers), CLA (magazines), FT (Financial Times/ft.com) or other copyright owner. No further copying (including printing of digital cuttings), digital reproduction/forwarding of the cutting is permitted except under licence from the copyright owner. All FT content is copyright The Financial Times Ltd. Article Page 2 of 4 427656796 - NICTRE - G11679-1 - 139389936 Source: Manchester Evening News {Travel} Edition: Country: UK Date: Monday 9, July 2018 Page: 12 Area: 781 sq. cm Circulation: Pub Stmt 39422 Daily Ad data: page rate £10,434.60, scc rate £29.40 Phone: 0161 829 3300 Keyword: www.jet2.com

The city of Pisa got its name in 600 BC from a Greek word meaning “marshy land”

Watch craftsmen at work Inside the stunning Pisa cathedral

The guided tour on the horse-drawn carriage

Reproduced by Gorkana under licence from the NLA (newspapers), CLA (magazines), FT (Financial Times/ft.com) or other copyright owner. No further copying (including printing of digital cuttings), digital reproduction/forwarding of the cutting is permitted except under licence from the copyright owner. All FT content is copyright The Financial Times Ltd. Article Page 3 of 4 427656796 - NICTRE - G11679-1 - 139389936 Source: Manchester Evening News {Travel} Edition: Country: UK Date: Monday 9, July 2018 Page: 12 Area: 781 sq. cm Circulation: Pub Stmt 39422 Daily Ad data: page rate £10,434.60, scc rate £29.40 Phone: 0161 829 3300 Keyword: www.jet2.com

The Leaning Tower of Pisa at ﬁrst light