Pisa + Lucca

Friday: Pisa to Lucca

We left on an early morning train for Pisa. After 3 hours on the train and one layover in Florence we were on our way. We started by taking a scenic walk through to the main attraction area. We stumbled upon the Leaning Tower of Pisa, along with the Duomo and Baptistry. We climbed up the tower which had narrow staircases with an occasional landing. The climb up was not too bad because at some points you are actually going down the stairs due to the lean. The stairs were very worn in and slippery. It was really fun and exciting to make our way to the top. Once we reached the top platform, the wind was whipping at an incredible rate. It was a little nerve wracking moving around the top with the wind and the 3 layers of steps. Luckily, there is a large safety net surrounding the area to make you more at ease.  The top had 4 outer bells and 1 central bell. We were fortunate enough to be up there while the noon bells were ringing. I even recorded a video. They warned us before they started ringing though because I’m sure I would have been scared if it was unexpected. Next, we went to see the nearby Duomo and Baptistry. For lunch, we actually went to a McDonald’s for some American-ish food and their free restrooms which is always exciting. I got the “Arizona Dream” as part of their promotional “50 States Tour”. It came with “Miami Fries” which tasted like curly fries but in a flat form. We ate lunch on the grass in the “Field of Dreams” by the Tower of Pisa, Duomo and Baptistry.  It was a satisfying meal. After lunch, we walked around and then caught a bus to Lucca where we were staying the night. The bus ride was hot and stuffy to say the least haha. Our hostel turned out to be nice. For dinner, we ate as a group at a restaurant. I got the ravioli con crema e spinaci. They were so creamy and delicious.



staircase going up the tower..so slippery

bells on top of the leaning tower of pisa

Miami Fries-flat version of curly fries

"arizona dream" cheeseburger with lettuce, onions, bacon, and a bleu cheese tasting sauce?

Saturday: Lucca

Lucca is full of bicycles; everyone rides them and parks them everywhere. Saturday morning after a pastry and cappuccino, we were ready to cruise around the city walls of Lucca on bicycles. Some people chose tandems and some chose singles. I went with the solo bike. This was a lot of fun and actually quite pleasant. It was a paved, tree lined path for bikers, walkers, and runners. After an hour of bike time we window shopped until lunch. Lucca has a lot of interesting store fronts and interiors.  I took a lot of pictures. For lunch, we got paninis again from an alimentari and ate them in the amphitheatre. The amphitheatre is surrounded by buildings and restaurants. We rode in a double decker train back to Florence that was delayed by 30min by the time we got there. It was so slow but we ran out of the train to validate tickets and find the next before it left. Running through a busy train station with multiple bags and a backpack provided quite the adrenaline rush. We made it onto the train only to sit for another 10 min before it left…haha. We got back to Castiglion and went to the Co-op grocery to get snacks for our Venice trip and found out that Saturday night is not the night to get your groceries. It was a zoo and way too many people in a small area for checkout. A pair of Italians behind us were commenting on how tired those Americans looked…By the time we left it was almost dinner, leaving us the only choice to power walk up the hill with our bags. I drank an entire Gatorade on the way, I was so dehydrated but it helped revive me immensely. Our dinner at the study center included some really good au gratin like potatoes that tasted as though they either had ricotta cheese or cream cheese in them…very yummy. After dinner, we went out for a gelato cone. I got strawberry and chocolate, an excellent end to a very good day overall.



chocolate roosters for Easter

our room for 5

ravioli with cream and spinach...very good!

crazy store interior

outdoor amphitheatre completely enclosed by buildings

portion of the city walls that we biked on top of