On to Pisa and Lucca, Italy

by Keith and Heather Nicol

Heather and Michael in Pisa

    From the scenic Cinque Terre area we headed for Pisa and Lucca which were just a short drive away. In Pisa we had the typical tourist agenda and stayed long enough to see the leaning tower and surrounding buildings. Again we had only allotted a day and a half in this area and we wanted to see Lucca and the surrounding area as well. We found parking near the leaning tower and although some people had said it was difficult to get parking so close to the tower we parked just a couple of blocks away. From there we headed for Lucca where we stayed at another airbnb location – “La Casa di Norra Lore” which was located near Lucca in Capannori. After getting check in and getting information about Lucca from our host Giuliana. She gave us a local map and showed us where to find free parking which was a big help. After getting unpacked we did some grocery shopping at a nearby store and then headed in to Lucca to walk on its famous treeline wall. Many of these early Tuscan cities are walled but most of the walls are not walkable on top. Here we saw many people biking and running with a grand view of Lucca from the top of the wall.

The Piazza dell' Anfiteatro in Lucca

 The next day we explored part of the inside of the walled portion of Lucca and loved climbing its

Sampling wine at Buonmico

tower (which featured trees on top) and seeing the views of tiled roofs stretching into the distance.   The Piazza dell’ Anfiteatro and Duomo are also well worth visiting. From there we headed back to “La Casa di Norra Lore” for lunch and then drove into the country side to visit Montecarlo which our airbnb host Giuliana had recommended for wine and olive oil tasting. We especially loved going to the Tenuta del Buonamico where we sampled numerous wines and olive oil. Of course we had to get some to bring back to Canada. A perfect way to spend the afternoon. See:http://www.buonamico.it/en/ for more info.

Eric, Kristie and Michael from the tower in Lucca