If of Pisa you only know Square of Miracles you absolutely must read this review! Beyond the tourist bars and souvenir shops there is another Pisa, the quiet, reserved and elegant one on the other side of the Arno.
Walks from the square San Paolo in Ripa d'Arno, delightful with the trees and the ancient Pisan Romanesque church towards the center. Follow the course of the Arno; soon you will come across an incredible building, Santa Maria della Spina, an oratory that is a Gothic jewel, pierced with decorations and full of spiers, in white and pink marble. In winter it is open from 10 to 14 from Tuesday to Sunday. The second Sunday of the month from 10 to 13 and from 14.30 to 17.
Continue towards Palazzo Blu, impossible not to see it… it's blue! It is home to art exhibitions and in progress, until February 3 there is Wassily Kandinsky. From Russia to Europe. An overview of the Russian painter, from his debut in his native country to the periods he spent in Europe between Paris and Germany. From the bucolic scenes of the Russian izbe to the first steps in abstract art and the colorful paintings of the Blauer Reiter movement. The exhibition is open every day, from 10 am to 19 pm on weekdays and from 10 am to 20 pm on Saturday and Sunday.
And after all this walking (you haven't actually walked more than a few hundred meters), you may be hungry. Just behind the Arno is Piazza Chiara Gambacorti or della Pera: it is a beautiful tree-lined square enclosed in a rectangle of houses, quiet, without cars and with children playing free outdoors. Stop by Bread and wine, at the outdoor tables or in the internal room: there are excellent first courses, assorted tastings of pecorino cheeses and honey, refined Tuscan salami, desserts: all local products and almost zero kilometer (the owners are from Garfagnana). It is also a wine shop, with wines recommended only by the glass. Fair prices and kind service.
And after all this, if you really can't do without it, go to Piazza dei Miracoli and enjoy the splendid monuments of Pisa.
