This past weekend, I had a gorgeous time traveling to Pisa for a photo shoot with that famous tower. Pisa is only an hour or so away from Siena by train, and was a really pretty little town. People say that there's nothing to do in Pisa besides go to the tower, but I would have liked to wander the streets a little longer to see for myself. The bridge over the Arno River had some really pretty views, and there were plenty of pretty mountains in the distance. The area surrounding the Tower was extremely touristy, there was an entire block of souvenir tents with little model towers and t-shirts, etc.! Seeing the leaning tower was pretty amazing, though, in all honesty. And it was right next to the beautiful Duomo of Pisa and the Baptistery.
An hour and a half later, we were on a train to Lucca, a lovely little oval-shaped walled medieval town that was originally founded by Etruscans. We rented bicycles and went for a leisurely ride around the walls - it was such a sunny, beautiful day which made Lucca seem especially idyllic, and the Alps were visible far, far in the distance. Families, joggers, and elderly people were all enjoying the outdoors and walking along the path lined with trees and little alcoves where you could sit by the ancient walls. It was truly one of the best days I've had in Italy. Later, we browsed some of the shops and a little craft market that was set up in a piazza. Also saw the Roman amphitheater, which had been built over by Renaissance townspeople and now only retains the shape of an amphitheater. It's a circle of pretty colorful Renaissance houses that contain cafes and apartments. For dinner, we found a great family-owned restaurant called Da Leo - cheap, amazing food! We had a delicious meal, and I tried the torta di verdure for dessert, a Luccan specialty (it's a surprisingly sweet vegetable cake topped with pine nuts). Our hostel, Ostello San Frediano, was clean and spacious, and fit all eight of us in our own dorm room.
Unfortunately, the next morning we woke up to rain, but continued on to the Duomo. Next we climbed the Torre Guinigi, a beautiful old tower originally belonging to the Guinigi Family. Even though I'm terrified of heights, I climbed all the way up (wind was whipping through the open windows, and the top staircase was wet because of the rain!) and was rewarded with a grand view and also a rooftop garden! It's one of the more bizarre things I've seen here - full-size trees were planted atop this huge tower! After inching my way down the hundreds of steps, gripping the railings and walls all the way, we visited the Basilica di San Giovanni. This site was once occupied by Roman baths, since Lucca used to be a major Roman colony, and the best part was, we got to descend beneath the church and walk through the excavated site, which contained ruins of the bathhouse, the medieval church remains, and a number of old tombs. It was amazing!! Roman mosaics were still intact, and there was ancient graffiti on the walls.
We left Lucca and finished our weekend in Viareggio, an Italian resort town that hosts a huge Carnivale celebration every year. This parade was craziness; the crowd got right in the street along with the massive, wild floats that were a couple stories high, filled with costumed dancers, and blasted music as they meandered by. Tons of people were dressed up - we saw everything from weird colorful monsters to cowgirls wearing tiny shorts in the freezing, damp weather. A lot of the floats had political connotations, but it was still fun for us Statiunitensi to watch and dance in the streets along with all the characters. And I saw the Mediterranean Sea for the first time! When we finally got back on the train to Siena, I was exhausted but thoroughly satisfied. Italians do everything right: fantastic landmarks, beautiful landscapes and towns, delicious food, and a great party. Perfect weekend.
