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PHOTO © PHOTOLIBRARY<br />
FRIDAY<br />
On arriving in Pisa, check into the<br />
riverside Royal Victoria Hotel (rooms<br />
from €56, book at hotels.easyJet.com),<br />
conveniently located by Pisa’s main<br />
attraction, the Field of Miracles (Campo<br />
dei Miracoli). This monumental square<br />
contains the huge Cathedral, the Baptistry<br />
and the Leaning Tower itself, all built in<br />
the 14th century. Start your weekend with<br />
a little gentle shopping; the stalls scattered<br />
along one side of the Campo sell everything<br />
you could possibly stick a Leaning Tower<br />
on, from snow globes, to keyrings, to fridge<br />
magnets. For local handcrafts, walk up Via<br />
Santa Maria to Emporio Nuovo Millennio<br />
at number 119, where beautifully made<br />
leather handbags come in all the colours of<br />
the rainbow and start at €25.<br />
Come dinnertime, eat at the friendly<br />
Osteria I Santi (71 Via Santa Maria, tel:<br />
+39 05 028 081) with its excellent cuisine,<br />
including Pisan and Tuscan specialities,<br />
and a jolly, kitsch interior hung with<br />
giant photographs of models posed as the<br />
Madonna and Jesus. Enjoy a hearty pasta<br />
dish, huge salad, coffee and drinks for the<br />
bargain price of just €9.<br />
SATURDAY<br />
Start your day bright and early, and explore<br />
the real Pisa. A stroll along the River<br />
DISCOUNT<br />
SHOPPING<br />
WEEKEND IN<br />
PISA<br />
WORDS KAMIN<br />
MOHAMMADI<br />
Keen shoppers will discover budget boutiques, buzzing markets and<br />
designer discount shopping dotted beyond Pisa’s Leaning Tower<br />
WEEKENDER | PISA<br />
Explore Pisa’s<br />
atmospheric streets,<br />
lined with boutiques,<br />
cafés and restaurants<br />
Arno affords great views of the restrained<br />
Renaissance city, and from here you can<br />
spot the small white church of Santa<br />
Maria della Spina on the other side of the<br />
Arno. With its white Gothic spikes and<br />
rose windows, it’s like a little jewel box<br />
among the solidly unfussy tan and yellow<br />
Renaissance façades along the river. Delve<br />
into the alleyways, which will lead you to<br />
the medieval quarter and the lovely Piazza<br />
delle Vettovaglie, edged by an elegant<br />
16th-century portico. The square hosts a<br />
colourful daily market, which spills into<br />
the surrounding streets. Gaze at glorious<br />
Italian fruit and vegetables presented<br />
alongside cut-price clothes.<br />
DECEMBER 09 | TRAVELLER | 49
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