It was another early morning for me in Italy hoping to catch the 8:13 train to Pisa. We were leaving Parma in hopes of exploring Pisa and Lucca in the same day. While the whole new day new city thing has meant alot of traveling, it has been really exciting! We arrived in Pisa around 11:30 and checked our bags at the train station. This worked perfectly since our plan was to walk to the leaning tower of Pisa and then catch a later train to Lucca, and we didn't really want to have to lug our bags everywhere! After checking our bags, we stopped for lunch at La Loggia. The girls all had pizza, which was interesting... Amy and I had some type of funky cheese that did not taste right! But we were able to eat outside and it was looking to be a beautiful day!
After lunch we made our way towards the Leaning Tower of Pisa. We had to walk of a bridge to get there and the river was brown... I was a little surprised after seeing the blue water in Venice! When we got to the tower, I found myself really impressed with it. I personally, think it looks alot more impressive in person than it does in pictures! There were alot of people around the street, and venders lined up along the edge. We all took pictures holding the tower in our hands or on our heads, and even tried to get a group shot of the girls holding the tower. After we finished taking pictures, we walked back to the train station, stopping for gelato on the way. I definitely have to say that the gelato in Pisa was the best gelato I had in Italy. It was very creamy! We finally made it to the train station as it was starting to rain, picked up our luggage, and then boarded the train to Lucca.
We arrived in Lucca in the late afternoon, and it was at this point that I learned that Lucca is spelled with two "c's." We took taxis from the train station to our bed and breakfast, which was called Centro Storico. The place was beautiful, and apparently a palace. The room we were staying in was huge! We had our own batheroom, and two bedrooms... compared to the hostels we have stayed in, this place was amazing! After we had settled in, we picked up some food for later, and then met of with three Italian guys Grace was aquianted with. Her friend from school studied abroad in Italy last semester and met these guys, and they agreed to take us on a tour through Lucca.
We met the guys in the main square and then walked to a bar for a drink. We sat outside and listened to the guys talk about Lucca for awhile. One of the guys had lived in Lucca his entire life, while the other two had moved here from England. After we finished we walked around the town. It was raining again... I am really starting to think that Italy may get more rain than Scotland. We saw the Royal Amphitheatre and a tower with trees growing on top! After exploring the sights we walked around the city walls before stopping at one of the guys house so he could change before dinner. While we stopped at his house, we went up to the terrace and went on the roof to see the view of the city.
The guys took us to one of there favorite places for dinner in Lucca. It was a small Italian restaurant that was actually pretty busy for a Tuesday! I tried the raviolli with meat sauce which was pretty good... we met an American family visiting from Panama City. They said they came to Italy to get away from all the college kids going to Spring break in Panama City which made me laugh because that was where Sue went for spring break. It was also funny because Amy didn't realize they were from Panama City, Florida, she thought they were actually from Panama! After dinner, we said bye to the guys and then headed back to the bed and breakfast. The next day was to bring another early start and another new city!
No comments:
Post a Comment