Girls trip to Pisa & Lucca

This past weekend was the first trip I took with some friends out of town on our own to Pisa and Lucca (I'm glad I ended up going because that would have been really embarrassing if I named my blog after a city I didn't go to!).

"You have Harvard, we have Pisa"- Michele

So Friday morning at 7 a.m. Clara, Chloe, Alli, Katelyn and I all trekked down to the train station in the snow remnants to board the 7:51 train Florence. Once we got to Florence we then caught a train to Pisa Centrale, the main station in Pisa. We arrived in Pisa around 11 a.m. and we were thrilled when we stepped out of the train station...NO SNOW! This was the first time we saw actual ground in over 10 days. 

We navigated our way to the bed and breakfast we booked (we figured we would let other check out the hostels before we tried it). We rung the bell for the "Michele Guest House" (of which we thought was pronounced like "Michelle"). We kind of stood around for a minute when a hefty woman across the street on the second floor leaned out of her window and flagged us down to come on up. We all just kind of look around at each other and all were thinking "Oh god, no thank you crazy lady across the street!".Michele (pronounced Mikel-eh) then came outside to greet us, and explained that the rooms we were in were actually across the street, but that he lived at the address he gave us. He was a very nice, knowledgeable man, and along with running a B&B, he is also a photographer and he designs and builds custom bathrooms. We were made aware of all of this when he took us through a tour of the entire guest house to show us all his custom bathrooms and photographs he has taken.The B&B was very nice, especially for only $33/night...we got free breakfast, a private bathroom, normal sized showers...that were HOT, free wifi and Italian TV! We were so excited we almost didn't want to leave the room, but after all the places Michele told us to go, we made our way out to go eat lunch and see the sights in Pisa!

Our suite in Pisa

The photo tile of the fox that can watch you in the bathroom...Michele's pride and joy!

Our first stop was lunch, which was yummy (as usual)...I ordered tortellini which is what we as Americans call ravioli, so I was a little surprised when I got my plate, but nonetheless delicious. The best was the tiramisu we got to end the meal- SOO good. It came with a mocha sauce on it...yeah I'm sure your mouth is watering now!

First Tiramisu!

After we made our way to...yes, of course, the leaning tower. Honestly, I wasn't expecting it to be so lean-y...IT'S SO LEAN-Y! So the 5 of us spent about 30-40 minutes trying to take all sorts of poses in front of it, and I have posted a few of them. We weren't able to go in, but we did go in to the Cathedral right next to it, which was much prettier than any of the other churches we had been inside of yet. I think it's kind of weird that some of the smaller towns have much prettier sights, but because they are not major cities, they are not as well known. After wandering around for the rest of the afternoon, we called it a night and got some pizza right around the corner from where we were staying, and spent the rest of the evening watching Italian Wipeout. :)

Leaning tower and cathedral

First view of the tower...it's so leany!

Cathedrale de Pisa

which one is leaning?

touristy leaning tower pic!

 Saturday morning we got on a train to Lucca, only 30 minutes away, and got our first dose of creeps at the train station. It was nerve racking waiting for the train to leave, but once we were moving we were fine. Lucca is beautiful! I had never heard of it before, but it is definitely worth a trip! It's a small town that is still 95% intact (only 5% of Pisa's original architecture is still intact). It even has the surrounding stone fortress walls, which it only takes about 40 minutes to walk around them (that tells you how small it is).

We first went up into the main tower that use to be a bell tower, which gave an amazing panoramic view of the town. I really didn't know that Italy had that many mountains, but it was beautiful to see all the roof lines and the mountains off in the distance. We went to a couple other beautiful churches throughout the day, and just walked up and down the main street where all the shops and businesses are. We stopped to have a snack at this bakery/bar where all the intellectuals were known to have gone- I tried my first cannoli- delish! Around 5 we headed back to Pisa to stop back at the B&B. We then slowly made our way to dinner but crossing the bridge over the Arno and taking night shots of the river. My camera didn't take that great of pictures but I stole some of Clara's for your enjoyment :) We had a really nice dinner leisurely dinner (I tried octopus that Clara ordered- not bad!) and it was just a really good end to our first trip on our own. 

Cathedrale de San Martino

Cannoli from Di Simo Caffe

Caffe we went to that many intellectuals are known to eat at.

Remains of the Roman Ampitheatre

Cathedrale de San Frediano in Lucca

Interior of San Frediano

Exterior remaining walls surrounding Lucca

All the girls on top of the walls of Lucca.

Stairs up to the top of the tower in Lucca

Lucca from the top of the tower.

Me, Chloe and Alli on the bridge over Arno in Pisa.

Clara, me & Chloe at the Osteria in Pisa

On top of the tower in Lucca...Props to Clara balancing her camera on a tree limb.

View of Lucca from top of the tower.

Sunday morning we were debating to go to another town nearby, Viareggio, to see the beginning of the Carnivale parades, but because they started so late in the afternoon we decided come back another weekend (hopefully the day after my birthday!)

The process of getting train tickets and getting back was very stressful- lots of gypsies asking for money in Pisa, and Clara's money got eaten by a ticket machine in Florence, but we made it back safely in 3 hours.

Today was my first full stone carving class and it was rough, but slowly I am getting the hang of it. Its just so nerve-racking because one false movement and you could mess us the entire piece. We don't go next week because we will be in Rome, but I will keep y'all updated on my progress and once I decide on a design for my final piece (I am also welcoming any and all ideas). The one thing I have definitely gotten out of this class that I think only the 5 of us in it understand- how amazing all these hand carved churches and statues are...they are 1 million times more impressive once you've actually tried it yourself!

Tomorrow we have a class field trip to Siena, so it will be nice to see somewhere other than Florence.  And it is official...my spring break will be spent in Paris, France, Dublin, Ireland, and London, England!Till next time! Ciao!