Italy - Pisa & Modena

I don't know what everybody's talking about...  this tower doesn't lean...

Oh yeah it's leaning.  OK, my bad!



So now I'll be spending the next few weeks in Italy (a little over 3 weeks actually).  It's a bit nice to do this, hoping to pick up a few words in Italian to augment my wicked Italian accent.  Actually, maybe "horrible" would be a better word to describe it, lol.  Anyways, I arrive in Pisa and spend half a day there before moving on to Cinque Terre for a few days, Modena (because I <3 cars), Florence, Tuscany, and finally the Amalfi Coast before jetting off to Barcelona.  So let's get going on those postings!

Pre-dinner gelato, scoops 1 & 2



Wow, some of the best pizza I've ever had.  I think it cost like 9 Euro for the pizza AND the wine!



Post-dinner gelato, scoops 3 & 4.  I'm just going to stop posting pictures of gelato since it usually looks the same, but you can safely assume that I continued my 4-scoop habit throughout my time in Italy :P



What I did:

• September 4, 2012 - Arrived in Pisa, saw the Leaning Tower and the surrounding buildings, and ate dinner.
• September 5-9, 2012 - Cinque Terre (covered in later posts).
• September 10, 2012 - Arrival in Modena, explored the city a bit.
• September 11, 2012 - Ferrari Museum, Italy v. Malta football match (World Cup qualifier!)







Just Ferrari showing off a few of the trophies they've won over the years.  Oh those Italians are so modest...  lol



Highlights:

• Food - Fantastic pizzas and pastas.  In Italy???  Who would have expected that???  :P
• Gelato - So I've gotten into a 4-scoop daily habit.  Seriously, I'm either going back to Canada taking up two seats on the plane or in a plastic bag in the cargo hold after I suffer a catastrophic obesity-related incident lol.
• Football - OK so Italy didn't exactly play at their best...  But the fact that it only ended up 2-0 also had something to do with the fact that Malta defended quite well.  And it was pretty cool to watch a World Cup qualifying match (in Italy!).  The home crowd definitely got into it and the Maltese fans were FANtastic as well (see what I did there?  hahaha I'm so sorry...).



Maltese towns milling around Modena.  Apparently, I saw the team Malta players walking around the previous day, I just had no idea who they were (though in retrospect, a bunch of guys walking around wearing matching jerseys should have tipped me off)

The Maltese fans supporting their team during the warmup.  Also my only chance to see Etienne Barbara of the Whitecaps on the pitch, as he spent the whole game on the bench.

The ageless wonder, Andrea Pirlo, setting up the free kick

Somebody tell that fool to get out of the way!  Oh...  hey that's me!!!  :D

Lowlights:

• Honestly, there's not too much to do in Pisa or Modena.  Pisa's worth a half-day at the most, Modena maybe a full day on its own (excluding the football match).  I didn't rent a car (a little ironic to be visiting car museums when you don't drive there, lol), but if I had, I could have checked out the Lamborgini, Maserati, and Ducati museums as well which would have taken a bit longer, though the Ferrari Museum is probably the best developed of them all.

My first meal in Modena.  Wow...  this was so good and so cheap!  This alone was almost worth the trip to Modena!  The red wine is a local speciality known as gambrusco, a sparkling red wine.  I ended up having this at every meal (lunch & dinner)



hmm...  no stereotypes on this pizza box, that's for sure!  :P


Can't Miss:  Regardless of how you feel about Italian football (and I know most people have a low opinion of it, though they did very well at Euro this year), it was definitely very cool to watch a World Cup qualifier in Europe.  :)

One Euro per bottle.  This must be the Italian equivalent to Australian goon...

Yeah, you read the sign correctly.  I don't think I need to add any commentary...