Pisa, Tuscany, Italy, Wednesday, September 19, 2012

I Can’t Hold On Much Longer

We leave our apartment in Vernazza to take the 0819 train to Pisa with a change in La Spezia. No Ritardo trains today so we arrive in Pisa around 1030. We take a very slight detour as the roads are not well marked at the station so we meander slightly out of the way before finding the area with the leaning tower. Tourist central here for sure and we are one of them. The tower is not as tall as Carol thought but is definitely leaning. We take some cheesy hold the tower up pictures and buy some tickets to see the Duomo here.
Construction was begun in 1063 and it was the third longest knave in Christendom when it was built at 320 feet long. There are shields of the Medicis of Florence on the ceiling as they took over Pisa. A large mosaic from around 1300 is behind the alter in the apse. There is also a marble pulpit carved by Giovanni Pisano where carved lions crouch over their prey ( horse) representing Christ and Satan ala the four horseman of the apocalypse.

St. Ranieri Patron Saint of Pisa

St. Ranieri, the patron saint of Pisa, is on display in a glass lined casket. We spend some time experiencing the beauty of the church and then head out to leave. It is raining now, so our timing was good to see the Leaning Tower.
Back to the train station we go, where we catch the train to Lucca. Only a two car train, it is packed with students as Pisa is a university town. We stand for the whole ride which luckily is only 25 minutes.

The Lucca Rain Dance

                       Finding our way from the Lucca station inside the walled city and our BNB does not prove difficult and we try ringing the bell. Getting an answer and buzzed in we head up to the 2nd aka 3rd floor. We are greeted by Claudio who is super nice. Our room is ready and we put our stuff in it. He gives us a map and recommendations for lunch and dinner. He then offers us coffee which we accept as it is raining quite hard at the moment. We also get some cake with the coffee and chat for a bit.
We thank him and head out to find a place to eat lunch and maybe see a few sights. We head to a pizza place I had found in my research and step in to the small two small tables and a counter interior. They sell cheese by the slice but I am in the mood for sausage so we order one and Carol was able to get a small table while I ordered. I also order a slice of cecina, a local item made from a chickpea flour batter, half crepe like half pizza like. Wine is o may a 1.50 for a large glass so I order two of those also. The slice of cecina is amazing. The pizza is great as well. We even have a second slice of cecina before we leave. What a great find and we know where lunch is tomorrow.

Painted Wood Carving

We wander around the streets of Lucca with no particular destination. The light rain stops which makes it even better, we check out a few restaurants for dinner and see one that looks very reasonably priced so we make reservations for 1900. We manage to stop in and see the church of San Frediano on the way home. It has a hugh mosaic on the exterior of the church so that is different. It was built by the Pope for pilgrims traveling from northern Europe to remind them what awaits them in Rome. St. Zita body has been here since 1278 and there is a great painting on wood of the Assumption of the virgin from 1510. It is a very cool church for its size. 
We head back to the room to get some rest before dinner. We are really liking the feel of Lucca.

Grouper Ravioli and Pesto Pasta

Dinner time arrives pretty fast and we are about 10 minutes late for our reservation. Not many people in the restaurant now, but by the time we left an hour and a half later it was full. We had an antipasto of 3 types off bruschetta, a grouper stuffed ravioli, pasta with pesto and of course, some wine to go with it. It all was very good, so we just went and reserved again for tomorrow night. We walked home and looked for a gelato place along the way. We found one on the main drag near a piazza and unfortunately, we have to say that it was the first disappointing gelato of the whole trip. Definitely more like ice cream than true gelato so it was a bit of a let down. Other than that, we had a great day and look forward to spending tomorrow in Lucca.
CNC
“Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.”-Gustave Flaubert

Expenses
15.80E- 2 train tickets to Pisa
4E- 2 tickets to Duomo in Pisa
6E- 2 train tickets from Pisa to Lucca
11.30E- sausage pizza, 2 slices cecina, 2 glasses of wine at Pizzeria Da Felice
29E- antipasto, 2 pastas, bottle of wine, at Ammodonostro
4E- Ice Cream Gelato
80E- Al Tuscany BNB

Miles Walked – 8 Miles