Lucca and Pisa

Pisa

On the road again. We left Cinque Terre this morning and were able to take the train to Pisa. We passed right through the accident site where the explosion occured a few days earlier, it was amazingly large and we could see a little ways down the tracks all the burnt out cars. This time the train passed through country side with the mountains in the background. There is lots of corn (though it looks different than Canada) and even sunflowers. Two days ago our train ride passed through rice fields!

Once in Pisa we just left our bags at the train and walked into town. We were warned about lots of pickpockets opperating in Pisa and by the train station. The leaning tower was interesting, I took the requisite tourist photograph of trying to hold up the tower.

Good god, everyone there did. This city was definitely very touristy, especially compared to Corniglia which seemed quiet and more filled with locals. In Pisa it was full of tents hawking crap.
However, the cathedral, tower etc were amazing. I didn't go inside but just wandered the gorgeous grounds. There was a big lawn surrounding the buildings which is unusual from what I've seen in Holland and Italy. The buildings were fantastic marble structures and on the train ride down we passed through many marble quarries, some with giant blocks laid out and cranes to move them around. It was also very hot in town but I wandered on the marble steps surrounding the cathedral to the back and sat in the shade and ate my leftover pizza. Untill Italy I've never eaten cold pizza before because I've always had an oven. It's ok, especially when you're hungry.


Then I wandered to the other building and sat on the grass in the shade and there were these fantastic cool breezes. It was very pleasant. Then it was back on the train to Lucca.

Lucca has a fantastic wall surrounding the city and it is intact. We are staying in a hostel and I am in a room with 5 people. I'm not too happy about that because one of the ladies snores... ARGH! I am also at this point pretty damn tired. I've been doing a lot of walking and it is very hot. Coming from Vancouver I'm not used to this heat.

Lucca

Lucca is a city surrounded by a medival wall. The wall is wide and people from the village like to walk or bicycle around it (like the seawall only less crowded). When we arrived in Lucca several of us rented bicycle and went around the wall where it was windy and nice and cool.


Then we walked around town trying to find some dinner with no success. Here we are in tuscany and the food we ate... finally, with the correct combination of price/desperation we ended up eating the worst american food at some piazza. I at least had lasagne (heated in the microwave) but others in the group had the burger (on recommendation from a patron - it can only be a cruel joke!) and it looked terrible. After the horrible dinner we wandered around some more and ended up at a free jazz concert in the botanical garden. It was a lovely way to spend the evening.

In Lucca it has been our worst accommodation. We are staying at a hostel and there are five of us sharing a room. The hostel is in an old monastery and it is pretty nice for a hostel. We have a large courtyard and are right next to the wall. However, in my room was another snorer. I didn't sleep a whole lot, I think when I get to Switzerland I will buy a cheap mp3 player and put my audio books on it. Then I can listen to it and will be focused on the story and not focused on how the snoring is keeping me awake.