Today we headed out to Pisa fairly early. On the drive down we couldn't find much on the radio but we did find 1 thing that made us laugh. They were actually playing "3 is the magic number" from Schoolhouse Rocks, and we just laughed and sang along.
When we got to Pisa we parked and walked until we found the Leaning Tower. While we were there we did the touristy thing, and took the typical pose with the tower. I was actually very impressed by the tower, I hadn't expected much, since most people said it was disappointing, but it was actually very pretty and amazing. We did not walk up it as the next appointment was about 4 hours away and we weren't planning on staying in Pisa that long.
Greg holding up the tower:
Me holding up the tower:
Me & Greg with the Leaning Tower:
Some sort of Karate class?:
While in Pisa we did go into the Baptistry and the Museum. While we were in the Baptistry a man came in to do some voicework to show off the accoustics, it was astounding to listen to. The Duomo across from the Baptistry was amazing as well, but we did not go in. After we walked around the grounds and took our cheesy shots we then went into the Museum. The museum was pretty good, a lot of sculptures from the Leaning Tower and Duomo that were removed for safety and a lot of models but the best part was the views of the Tower. It was absolutely beautiful.
The Cathedral (Duomo) in Pisa:
Inside the Baptistry:
The Pisa Baptistry:
Shot of the Tower, Cathedral, and Baptistry from inside the Museum:
Ancient Hippogriff:
When we left Pisa we drove to Lucca, a nearby town that is basically a small walled city. When we got there we were starving so the first thing we did was find a small pizzeria and eat. We then decided we were going to rent bicycles when we came across a place, the thing to do here is to ride bikes around the small streets or along the top of the wall. However, we walked and walked, and saw many churches and sites, but never came across any bicycle rental places, so we just kept walking. After going inside Baptistry of St. Giovanni to see the archaelogical sites and Roman baths and ancient graffitti we went into the Duomo to see the Cathedral of San Martino and the Illaria del Caretto (tomb of Caretto's 2nd wife). This tomb was done by the famous artist Jacopo. We continued on at this point into the Cathedral Museum.
Baptistry in Lucca:
The altar area:
Inside the archaelogical area of the Baptistry, this mosaic floor dates back to the 1st century:
Ancient Graffitti (and the drawing of what you are seeing):
The Dog on the right hand side:
Cathedral of San Martino:
We next walked by Torre Guinigi (Palace tower) and to Piazza Anfiteatro. This piazza is so amazing, it is a complete 360 degrees around of buildings with just a couple archways to exit. It is very intriguing. It is also a place where they have horse competitions. Here we grabbed a gelato and sat out on the piazza to enjoy. I do have to say that this was the most confusing city we had been to so far, the streets never really joined up and since they were so narrow you couldn't look up to find cathedrals and towers. After we walked by a few more small churches we found our way back to our car.
Piazza Anfiteatro:
Our next stop was going to be Monsummano Terme, a natural thermal spring, but when we got to the town we couldn't actually find it so we just decided to head back to Greve. It was kind of funny though, the Tom Tom was trying to get us on the motorway but the entrance it was trying to use was long gone so we had to take a very long detour. We eventually made it back and were able to do a wine tasting at Vicchiomaggio and then another at Castello di Verrazzano, where we bought some excellent Chianti Classico (mainly so we could get some wine glasses as well).
Afterwards we decided to stop by this wine store in Greve, La Cantina, to see what they had, we knew they did tastings as well. It was actually very interesting the way they have it set up. You buy a card with money on it, how much ever you want to put on it. Then there are these stations with about 20 bottles each hooked up to, and you insert your card, push the button related to the wine you wish to sample, and it spits the wine into your glass and deducts the appropriate amount from your card. That way you can try as few or as many as you want and you don't have to wait on someone to give it to you. Tastings were priced from .60 to over 6.00 each, so depending on what you tried you may be able to sample a few or a lot. We sampled about 6 different wines, we tried to pick ones we hadn't had yet and different ones that were recommended by our book. We didn't buy any though, we already had enough to last us the rest of our trip.
Wine sampling at La Cantina:
We had dinner at Caffe le Logge in Greve, which was pretty good, before doing our daily routine of cards and wine at the apartment. It was very nice to be able to unwind and relax.
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