International Living Postcards– your daily escape

Friday, Oct. 6, 2006
Lucca, Italy

In the later part of the 12th century, an unknown architect–possibly the Pisano brothers, or maybe Deotisalvi, no-one knows for sure–designed and set about building this city’s campanile, a freestanding bell tower. Due to poor design and weak foundations, the tower gradually began to topple.

At any other time in history, in any other part of the world, a man who built something which began to fall down almost immediately would be considered a failure. Not here. For the next 800 years architects, engineers, dictators, mathematicians, task forces, governments, historians, and even school children set to righting what looked so wrong. For centuries they endeavored to undo the degree of tilt, so that they could enjoy a perfectly straight campanile. But then the tourism potential of such an oddity was realized, and efforts were redoubled to make sure the lean remained, but never quite fulfilled its threat to fall down. Today the Leaning Tower of Pisa is one of the most recognizable landmarks in the world.

But is it worth visiting?

Well, for starters it costs too much–two or three times the cost of entrance to any other structure on the Campo dei Miracoli, yet the tower is the least inspiring to visit. But despite paying $20 to get in, there’s no-one to show you around, save for the lone polizia on the seventh floor barking at bewildered tourists to “higher, higher”. For all the palaver about the Tuscan sun, there’s precious little of it around this time of year, and as you wait in the long entrance lines you will get wet.

But all that has nothing to do with the tower itself. Is it any good? Consider this: The best thing about climbing any tower is the view from the top. It is a truth seldom acknowledged by Italophiles, but from a great height, most Italian cities look the same, a sea of charming Italian roof tops, with the occasional medieval tower poking trough all that terra cotta.

My advice is to catch a bus to Lucca, a small merchant town 10 miles from Pisa. This is another walled town, but Lucca’s super wide 16th-century walls have been turned into a tree-lined pedestrian promenade. From the walls you’ll have no trouble spotting Guinigi Tower, a tall red brick structure with a crown of oak trees. Getting access to the top of Guinigi Tower is quick, easy, and cheap (although it is 40 feet smaller than Pisa’s bell tower, the views are spectacular).

There’s much more to Lucca. I enjoyed the Roman amphitheater, now an oval piazza of shops and cafés buried into the old walls and basements. You’ll find good value Italian leather shoes and jackets at Lucca Market, as well as all the local handicrafts you could possibly want. You will get lost as you stroll the medieval streets, but the town is small enough that losing your way is most of the fun, and the best way to find anything from a traditional violin maker to a Gucci store.

The biggest welcome to be found in Tuscany is at the 15th-century Villa Rinascimento in the simple village of Santa Maria Del Guidice (“SM Del Guidice” on the bus, $2.50 from Pisa), halfway between Pisa and Lucca. In high season it’s 150 euro ($190) per room per night, including a delicious substantial breakfast for two. Discounts if you stay more than one night (you will).

Things to do include sitting on a bench in the main square and watching village life unfold, eating the grapes, pomegranates, and plums you liberated on the stroll from the villa.

The food in the villa is good, but the three local restaurants are disappointing. However nearby Lucca has a wide selection of excellent places to eat, all devotees of the drawn out Italian meal to which you must give over several hours. Don’t fight it. Lubricating the courses with wine and conversation is good for the digestion, and a great way to make friends.

Len Galvin
For International Living

[Don't miss out. Get your free IL Postcards subscription today.]

P.S. Lucca and environs are popular with second home hunters from elsewhere in Europe. You won’t get much change from $250,000 for anything charming and ancient with a terra cotta roof, no matter how small, but you will get a better price if you shop with an Italian friend. Compare the window listings of a regular immobiliare with any real estate agent who has a big bright sign in the window announcing “we speak English” and the gringo mark-up is apparent.