(Images: 1 is Pisa Cathedral complex (hard to see baptistery edge on left); 2 is Pisa cathedral nave, 3 Triumph of death fresco detail, 4 is one of Lucca's cathedrals, I believe San Michele)today was a break from classes and a wonderful excursion a little to the north west. we went to Lucca first and spent a few hours going through a few churches and buildings and I even took a little walk along the never used, besides a deterrent from i nvaders, Renissance wall. It was a nice quit little city, but lacked the intrigue and fanciful artworks that Florence has, and the views just weren't as nice as San Gimigano. But it was a nice city that had its own little charm and old time feel. And if you'd like to live there only about 8,000 live inside the walls and you must get a special drivers permit to actually be able to drive inside the city. But the big thing Lucca is famous for is Puccini a famous musician/opera writer so maybe you've heard of some of his stuff I'm not sure. But we learned lots of stories about him and his crazy life and the continued lawsuits filed against his family still.
Next was Pisa. Pisa is not my favorite town. Lots of people trying to sell stuff to tourists, and not a very clean or even safe feelign city. and besides the main piazza where the church is it's not really much to look at. but the cathedral grounds are very amazing and really make a statement. We didn't have much town due to a lot of traffic getting into town that morning at Lucca, but I managed to go in the cathedral, the baptistery, take pictures of the tower ( some went up but I decided against it) and also go to the cemetery and all saw the triumph of death frescoes that were badly damaged in WW2 from a bomb. but the cathedral complex was impressive, and yes the tower leans but few people know that the baptistery also leans, just not as much. Also I purchased a Florence Football jersey for our soccer game on Sunday. We are going to the Rome and Florence Game this Sunday before the super bowl, apparently if depending on your tv channels you may be able to watch it at home in the states... Maybe you'll see me I'll be one of the like Zillion people in Purple Florentine Jersey's lol!
anyway after Pisa since your kitchen is under construction they decided to take us out to eat. It was a big surprise until we were almost there and it happened to be good old fashioned McDonalds... It was slightly different than American mcdonalds. It was a little nicer, it was more expensive, the dryer in the bathroom was pretty cool, the trash can had a built in trash compactor, and I got a McItalian which was interesting... beef patty, with lettuce, cheese, olive oil, some sort of sauce, on ciabatta bread. So we'll see what the morrow brings... School for sure, but hopefully the forecasters are wrong and it's not rain again all day!
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