Pisa/Lucca

We had hoped to catch a train to Pisa mid-morning, but when we arrived at Roma Termini station we found ourselves waiting in the most painstakingly long queue and wound up having to take a later train. Coincidentally, in waiting longer than expected we ran into our old friends from Mykonos, Brittany and Danielle. Of all places and of all people, in a crowded main train station, we see two familiar faces that were unfamiliar to us just a week prior. Pretty amazing stuff.

Finally, after much delay, we were on our way again. We visited the leaning tower, each ordered a personal pizza in Pisa, and then continued on to Lucca. Our stay was short--just one night--but we enjoyed our brief visit to this small walled city.

It was funny to think that, as we were checking into our hostel, we'd be checking out about 14 hours later. That night, we went walking around the town til we found a restaurant recommended by a friend from back home, who had previously visited Lucca (and this restaurant, Trattoria da Leo). Apparently, the farro soup was a must try dish. Turned out to be fairly simple, similar to lentil soup with the appearance of refried beans, but with some traditional olive oil added in and accompanied by bread it was tasty and adequately filling. After dinner, Pat and I each enjoyed an order of Biscotti "Di Leo" con vin santo (biscotti with an after dinner digestivo drink), and we all shared an order of tiramisu. From there, we attempted to walk off our meal and eventually made it back to our room after exploring the town after dark a bit more.

In the morning, Pat and Joanie did a couple loads of laundry at a nearby public laundromat. To pass the time, we went to a cafe and had some coffee, tea, and pastries at a cafe across the way. Afterward, we had just enough time to visit Puccini's birthplace and snap a few last photos of Lucca by day before we had to catch another train. Lucca served as a nice, peaceful stopover before the more lively and artistically enthusiastic city of Florence.