Pratique du Shadowing: The DON’Ts of Visiting Pisa, Italy - Apprendre l'anglais à l'oral avec la vidéo

Hey there fellow travelers, Mark here with Walter's World.

Today we're in Pisa here in Italy and today we have for you are the don'ts of visiting Pisa.

Specifically, if you're going to be doing a day trip from Florence, because some things you should know before you come so you can have a great time.

I want to start off with this one.

Don't forget to pre-book your tickets so you can go up the tower.

Yes, you can go up there for some cool views, but just to say you were up the Leaning Tower of Pisa, right there, totally worth it.

So don't forget that.

And another don't I have for you is don't feel bad about trying to get your picture holding up the tower.

That is a quintessential part of being a tourist in Italy.

You're here, you do that.

I know there's people like, oh I walked through and ruined people's picture.

Oh what tourist loser is doing that?

No, you're tourist winners because that's what tourists do.

We go and enjoy fun things like getting pictures of holding up the Leaning Tower.

So make sure you don't feel bad and you do do that.

And the thing is when you come here to Pisa So this is a fantastic place for a day trip or whatever.

But honestly, seeing the tower is one of those things.

You come to Italy, you really feel like, I've been to Italy.

I saw the Leaning Tower.

But don't think it's just the Leaning Tower because you do have the cathedral.

You can go to it as well.

But for me, for me, the best part is actually going to see the Baptist Street or at least the outside of the Baptist Street for me.

It's my favorite part, the most beautiful part here.

And you could do that if you go in with the acoustics.

It's just a really great thing.

All right.

So I want to do that.

But I got to tell you, don't think that Pisa is just the leaning tower because there's so much more here.

Now the thing is, I want to warn you, when you do come here to Pisa, don't be surprised if it gets overrun with tour groups coming through here, especially during summertime.

So be aware of that and don't get overrun by them because it can happen.

Because I have seen the tour groups not seem to care about anyone else except for their tour group.

So be careful with that.

But also I would tell you is don't get hassled by the vendors there'll be people wanting to sell you stuff, there'll be people wanting you to come to their restaurants and all kinds of things,

and they can be a little bit high pressure-y.

Don't let them get it to you and you'll see people selling stuff on the street trying to get you like, oh where are you from?

Don't don't fall for those, just say no thank you and walk away.

That's going to be your best bet for that.

Also when you are here, since there's so many tourists and the tourists really love coming here, they love getting their picture,

and they're so focused on getting their picture that sometimes you don't notice that there are some pickpockets that are here,

there are some nefarious folk that are not enjoying the view as much as the tourist wallets, so do be aware of that.

And honestly, one of the things that's probably the biggest rip-offy thing when you're here is, I'm going to tell you this, don't eat where you get a view of the tower, because if you got a view of the tower,

the price is going to be much higher, and the quality level probably is going to be a bit lower, and I'm not going to lie to you, but I came here with Jocelyn the first time with her,

Caleb asked us, Dad, could you go eat pizza and pizza for me?

I was like, okay buddy, I'll do that.

We actually ate pizza here in Pisa where you can see the Leaning Tower

and it was literally the worst pizza I've ever had in Italy.

So do be aware of that.

So just know like if you're going to be eating where you can see the tower, you're going to be paying for that.

So if you want to go have some of the good local food that's here, maybe explore a bit more because otherwise you're going to be kind of disappointed.

It's kind of like when you go to Venice and go, wait, Italian food's not that good.

No, you just went to where a lot of tourists are and therefore they don't try quite as hard.

But that's it is don't forget to eat when you are here

because there are some really good foods here in Pisa that you can't have.

When you come here, you're going to see Pantugini, these little almond cookies.

They're very dry, but they're very tasty.

But I want you to know is when you get it for a dessert, don't forget you get the Vinsanto and you're going to dunk them in because that sweet,

this is a dessert wine and it's going to really help soften it up and make it oh so much more tasty.

What are your favorite desserts in Italy?

Let me know.

now

if you're going to go up the tower i got to tell you don't think you can take your backpack

or luggage or anything like that up there

but by the ticket office there is actually a left luggage

place you can go to a cloakroom here where you can leave your stuff

so you can leave it there it'll be safe

and then you can go up and enjoy the view from up there

so don't forget the cathedral actually has a front side here

which literally no one ever notices or sees

because we're too busy going to check the tower

but don't forget to go into the cathedral because it is beautiful with the art that's inside, with the stonework that's there, the ceiling.

I mean, it's really a cool place to go.

Also, again, in that heat, another great place to go to just kind of relax, to get out of it in that summer heat.

So you can have that or the winter chill, you know, so think about that, but definitely go in there.

It is beautiful.

And the thing is, I don't want you to think that Pisa is just the Piazza di Mercola, you know, the tower and the baptistry and the cathedral,

because the city does have other things to offer.

One of my favorite things to do is actually just to wander around along the Arno.

Just walk along the Arno.

You got beautiful architecture.

You can come in.

And honestly, if you're going to be coming in and use Google Maps, they're going to have you like shoot off the side or whatever.

I would walk straight out of the train station, go down the Corso Italia, where all the shops are, which is nice, and you come out on the Arno.

And what's beautiful about it is you have all these buildings, but also you have like the Palazzo Blue right there.

You can go and visit that.

You have another Palazzo here you can visit with the museum.

the Museo de San Mateo is down that way.

I mean, there's a lot of other things you can do when you're here.

So that's what I want to say is don't feel bad if you make Pisa, you know, more than a day trip.

I mean, yes, it could be a day trip.

It could be a half day trip to be honest.

I mean, if you only want to come see the tower and go, you can do that.

But if you want to spend more time, you can do that.

So don't feel bad because they do have things to offer.

Now, I wouldn't spend more than one or two nights here.

But it is something you could do when you're here

because there are other things to see than just getting your picture at the tower.

So continuing on after the cathedral and the tower and everything.

Come to the Campo Santo.

When you come in, you want to check out the walls where they have the painting

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or the frescoes on there that show stuff.

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I mean, look at this.

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This is the Last Judgment.

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It's just it's very graphic, but it's like you can just appreciate the artwork, how intricate it is and just wow.

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Like you can see how people were really scared back in the day about certain things.

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But when you come in, you have all this in here to kind of check out.

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So it really is more than just seeing the tower.

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When you come here to see the tower, just really make sure you're trying to explore more when you're here.

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And that's why it can take more time or less time when you are here.

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It's up to you.

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So I can tell you, when you come to the tower, there are a lot of different ticket options that are here.

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and it looks really confusing, but actually it's not.

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Basically what you need to know is, do you want to go up the tower or not?

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Because you want to go up the tower, it will be more, okay?

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And you want to be careful with that because it will be much more.

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If you don't want to go up, it's okay.

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You can get a ticket without that.

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And each one of the parts here, because the Piazza di Miracoli actually has a couple of museums, cemetery, it's got the Tower of Baptistry, all these things, and everything needs a ticket, okay?

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Now the thing is, the only thing that's free is actually going in the cathedral, but you still need to get a ticket to see the cathedral.

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So don't forget to get a ticket for the cathedral.

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Even if you don't want to go up the tower, go into Baptist Street.

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But I would go up the Baptist Street, as I said before.

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But it's one of those things I think gets a little confusing there.

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So just know that.

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And if you are thinking about eating here, don't forget there are some local specials you can have when you're here.

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Probably two of my favorites.

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You might want to get the risotto ai furitimari, which is basically a seafood risotto, which is really good.

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Or the spaghetti with clams.

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That's fantastic.

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And you'll see other kind of things you see throughout Tuscany here.

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You know, the chickpea pasta flatbread.

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They have that.

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You could get the stockfish stew, which is, you know, you're like stockfish cod.

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Yeah, they codfish because, you know, because the history here and the sea nearby.

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I mean, there is seafood things that are going to be here you can enjoy.

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So you do have options when you're going to grab lunch here for a day trip.

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It's not just having pizza and pizza because, like I said, wasn't my best experience.

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But there's some good stuff here, too.

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But you do have some local food you can grab when you are here.

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Now, if you've seen the tower, you've done the bathroom, you've done the cathedral, you saw the palazzos, you went to the museums.

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Well, you're thinking, Mark, what else can I do?

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Well, aside from wandering around and enjoying the streets and the views, you also have tons of churches you can visit when you're here.

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And what you want to do is go inside

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and take them in because some of them are kind of austere and some have kind of cool art inside.

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Like here, this one by the university, if you go inside there, there's like this really detailed like death scene.

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It's kind of intense, but it was interesting to see.

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But there's lots of churches around.

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Probably the one you're definitely going to stop by and see

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when you're here that you know you're when you're walking back

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or to the uh cathedral the tower uh the leaning tower

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it's going to be the uh santa maria de la spina

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which is a little tiny on the arno river like gothic

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church go in there it's small it's tiny it's worth seeing

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but there are a lot of other churches

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when you are here in town i mean it's italy they're all over

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and they're always open

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so i gotta tell you this uh don't be surprised how hot it can get here in the summertime

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and if you need to get a respite from the heat

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and the crowds don't be afraid to go into a church okay, to get out of that heat and get kind of cooled down again, because it can be something you want to kind of think about.

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But the churches, well worth seeing as well.

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And if you're looking for a piazza to come to, don't miss on the Piazza dei Cavalieri.

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I mean, this is just a beautiful, beautiful piazza here.

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And you'll be very jealous of the buildings at the university, the schools have here because, yeah, this is an incredible square.

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You're going to want to check out when you're here.

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All right, so don't miss it out.

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That's why I got to say, don't be afraid to go wander around Pisa.

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Go see more than just the direct pathway to the leaning tower then back to the train station

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because you get fantastic architecture like this that you're just like unbelievable.

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Oh, can you hear the planes?

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I'll talk about those in a bit because there's a lot of low-cost airlines here.

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Now, if you're looking to get some shopping in

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and maybe the Florence shopping scene is a bit overwhelming with the number of crowds that are there and things, don't forget you can actually shop in here.

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Go to Corso Italia.

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That's the main pedestrian shopping street here.

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If you're coming out of the train station, You just go straight through.

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There's a little circle square.

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You keep going straight.

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It's right there.

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This is not near the Leaning Tower.

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It's not anywhere near that.

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So this is kind of a way so you don't have as many of the tourists coming here.

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But if you want to get normal shopping, if you've got to get to the pharmacy or something, you're going to get some makeup, you want to get some clothes, you can do that here without being overwhelmed.

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And also, as I'm going around, I do have to warn you, when you come here to Pisa, since so many people do this as a day trip, pickpockets and stuff know that, hey, this is a place where tourists are just going to

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come they're gonna have everything on them in a day pack

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or something so we can get a lot for one pick one pocket one bag okay

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so don't forget to be aware when you are here of

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that situation now if you're coming in the fall

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or the winter it's not really anything you have to worry about

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but in the summertime when there are a lot of tourists here do be aware of that also

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if you're thinking about flying to Italy from other parts of

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Europe on budget airlines don't forget Pisa is one of the

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kind of Italian hubs for low-cost airlines here in Italy

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so you can actually fly in here from a lot of places

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and Europe and just visit for the day and then go explore because there's trains that go straight down to Rome, they go to Florence, they go up to Genoa, Torino, all kinds of things.

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So you do have options when you get here.

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So something to kind of think about.

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When you're thinking about your pizza souvenirs, don't feel you have to get one of the little tchotchke kind of things.

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There's actually some pretty good artwork here you can get

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that could integrate the Leaning Tower into art and make it something more fun for home like we have in our kitchen.

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Hey also, don't worry if you don't want to walk all the way to the Lane Tower, the public transportation, the bus will actually take you all the way there.

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So you don't have to worry about it.

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And if you're wondering how often the trains are, don't forget there's basically a train to Florence, one of the regional trains, every half an hour or so.

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So you can get back and forth to Florence, no big deal.

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If you just want to make this a day trip from Florence, oh and another thing that's going to help you with a day trip is this.

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So don't forget they actually have a left luggage here at the train station in Pisa.

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So if you want to just make it a day trip, if you're going through, you know, if you take that train from Genoa down to Rome.

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It actually passes through here.

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You can just kind of break it up.

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You can put your stuff here.

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It's open from 8 a.m until 9 p.m.

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5 euros per bag.

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So something you might want to think about if you're looking to do a day trip here.

Qu'est-ce que la technique du Shadowing ?

Le Shadowing est une technique d'apprentissage des langues fondée sur la science, développée à l'origine pour la formation des interprètes professionnels. Le principe est simple mais puissant : vous écoutez de l'anglais natif et le répétez immédiatement à voix haute — comme une ombre suivant le locuteur avec un décalage de 1 à 2 secondes. Les recherches montrent une amélioration significative de la précision de la prononciation, de l'intonation, du rythme, des liaisons, de la compréhension orale et de la fluidité.

Pratique du Shadowing: The DON’Ts of Visiting Pisa, Italy - Apprendre l'anglais à l'oral avec la vidéo

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Qu'est-ce que la technique du Shadowing ?