Pisa and Lucca

That evening, we arrived in Florence. Thankfully it is a relatively compact city, so it didn't take long to get to our hostel, walking past its enormous duomo. We had dinner nearby and got to bed, because the following day we were actually doing a day trip out to Pisa and Lucca. Thankfully we learned back in the States that basically everything in Florence is closed on Mondays, so we were able to use that day for this side trip instead. So that morning we took the train over to Pisa and got there nice and early.



Side note - this is why Italy is in trouble:



But here's what you're looking for!



Definitely leaning. You can tell from this angle too that, once they realized it was leaning and only halfway done construction, they tried to build upward, giving it a slight curve.



Look to the post for what an upright structure should look like.

It was reassuring to have learned about Pisa's history as a strong maritime republic, and also nice to know that the Torre Pendente is only one of three cool buildings in the middle of town here. There's also the Battistero and the Duomo.













Climbing the tower was pretty cool.



And the steps are pretty worn down.



It feels like you're on a boat, because without windows your brain tries to make the level of the stairs its point of reference, but as you walk around the spiral staircase you alternatively feel pulled toward the center or pushed toward the outside.



And every once in a while when you pass a window and the horizon is not where your brain thinks it should be, your inner ear freaks out for a second.









After that, we got lunch nearby and tried to go to a good maritime museum a bit away from the center of town, but what we found appeared to be shuttered. Too bad.



With that, we hopped on a train back in the direction of Florence to Lucca.



Lucca is a good little Tuscan city that's famous for an intact city wall, one of the style that's significantly wider than it is tall. At some point, presumably after the defensive properties of the wall were moot, it was converted into a tree-lined path that offers nice views of the town and an easy way to get around. What's the best way to get around, you ask?



Tandem bicycle rental, without a doubt. We rode around for an hour, which was a lot of fun, and then walked into the city to see what we could see. We found yummy fruit and ate in one of the central piazzas.







And with that, we caught an evening train back to Florence and had dinner on the way back to our hostel.



They're keeping us safe from giant guinea pigs. I really like this style of building:



I'd been reading The Once and Future King so far this trip on Amanda's suggestion and was close to finishing, so I stayed up a little longer to finish. Tangentially, it's been very interesting afterward to read more about the circumstances in which it was written and published. And it's a very good book. Highly recommended.