Italy Part 4: Pisa, Lucca

Now, finally, the last chapter of our Italy trip!

On New Year's Day we took the train from Florence down the Arno river to Pisa.

Arno in Pisa

The Leaning Tower is not the only building in Pisa affected by the unstable swampland the city is built on.

Leaning building of Pisa

The main street was once a canal (a la Venice) but was paved over.

Pisa main street

The town seemed quiet and a bit dreary. Perhaps it was working off a bit of a New Year's Eve hangover.

Central square in aftermath of New Year's party

Soon, we were able to see the famous landmark!

Leaning tower from town

The Leaning Tower is really the campanile (bell tower) of the local Duomo (cathedral).

Duomo and campanile

What makes the Leaning Tower so remarkable (and thus famous)? As we know from my Bologna post, there are many buildings, including towers, in Italy that lean. The Leaning Tower of Pisa's distinction is that it is stunningly beautiful as well, with elegant arches, light marble, and geometric ornaments. In fact, all the buildings around the Pisan Duomo (duomo, campanile, and the baptistery) are built in this same architectural style, which is known as Pisan Romanesque.

The Leaning Tower

The baptistery, on the other side of the church, is huge (the largest baptistery in Italy, I think) and just as beautiful as the tower. In fact, it leans as well, but not as much as the tower.

Baptistery

The Duomo is also gorgeous.

Front of Duomo

The Leaning Tower posing scene is alive and well. With so many other tourists doing it, we had to follow suit.

Obligatory shot

We went back to our hotel for a bit of a rest, and returned to the Field of Miracles (a nickname of the area comprised by Duomo, tower, baptistery, etc.) at dusk.

Dusk

According to Rick Steves, the Field of Miracles is "the best lawn in Italy".

Baptistery, Duomo, Campanile

Mark, Kristen, Heather, and I had signed up for the (quite expensive) climb of the tower. (Marilyn did it when she visited Italy in her college days.) It's a fun and disorienting climb, because the staircase winds around the outside of the building, so that you feel gravity gradually pulling you slightly one way or the other.

Climbing the tower—on the "low" side!

The views from the top are nice, although it's hard for photos to capture the leaning sensation.

Near the top

The Field of Miracles from the Leaning Tower

This was our last night all together.

Family shot

In the morning, Heather and I said goodbye to the rest of the family and lounged around the Field of Miracles as we waited for a bus to take us to Lucca.

Cyclists by the lawn

On the 45-minute ride to Lucca, we spotted many cyclists and cycling groups taking advantage of the great weather and pleasant rural roads. It's great to be in a country where bicycles have such high popularity and status.

Following a cycling group to Siena

Coming from Pisa, with its overrun tourist area and somewhat cheerless town (again, perhaps the New Year's hangover contributed to this perspective), we were immediately taken by Lucca's liveliness, with lots of local families enjoying the carousel and ice skating rink situated next to our hotel.

Our hotel in Lucca

Lucca is probably best known for its intact city walls. The walls protected Lucca from hostile takeovers throughout the years (more because they deterred attacks, rather than repelling them) but now provide a wonderful promenade for pedestrians, cyclists, etc. to circumnavigate the city center.

In the city center, one can see that the Pisan Romanesque style found its way outside Pisa. Exhibit A: the Duomo of Lucca. I'm especially fond of the bizarre pillar designs and cool geometric touches—and how each pillar design is unique.

Front facade of Lucca's Duomo

Geometric patterns and the green-white-pink color scheme create quite a distinctive, snazzy effect.

Walking around the town, we found a real gem—the Torre Guingi, which is one of the many towers built by historical wealthy families who showed off their power and riches by building towers. What makes the Guingi family's tower unique (beyond that it's still standing, and is open to the public) is that they built a little garden on top! Such a cool idea.

Climbing up to the rooftop garden of Torre Guingi

At the top, it was so cool to see stunning views in all directions while relaxing under some small but pleasant trees.

View from Torre Guingi

View from Torre Guingi

Top of Torre Guingi

The tower is amusing to see from the street—the trees on top give it a bushy hairdo.

Torre Guingi from street

Another attraction in Lucca is an ellipsoidal plaza whose shape recalls an ancient Roman amphitheater that was built here.

Anfiteatro

Lucca has more examples of Pisan Romanesque architecture—here are more wild columns, multicolored marble, and geometric touches on the Chiesa di San Michele in Foro.

Facade of Chiesa di San Michele in Foro

Market in front of Chiesa di San Michele

Chiesa di San Michele

That evening, we went for a run around the city walls. The 2.5-mi loop was so much fun that we had to do it twice!

The next day, we decided we had enough time for a bike ride.

View from our hotel window to the ice rink

At the bike rental place, we were able to secure a tandem! It wasn't the speediest bike (definitely a "cruiser" type—our max speed was about 12 mph) but good enough for a little jaunt in the countryside.

After a spin around the walls, we split off and headed out of town.

On the road, outside the walls

Our limited speed and gear-ratio capabilities kept us from trying anything crazy, but we pedaled through some nice rural areas and tackled a few small hills, before heading back to the Serchio River.

We then headed back towards Lucca on a riverside bike trail. At an appropriate spot, we stopped for a picnic lunch.

Picnic lunch spread

Picnic spot

I had impulsively bought these little sweets that looked like coal. They turned out to be essentially black sugar blocks—and frankly, almost as tough as rock. They kinda hurt the teeth to eat. I think they're probably used as gag gifts for the Italian equivalent of stocking stuffers.

All she got was coal!

A short ride further along the picturesque riverside trail, and we were back in Lucca.

Serchio River view

After returning the bike, we had just enough time to gather up our things, send off the last postcards, and head to the train station. 

Thus commenced our long journey back home: a long train ride to Milan, a night in the same hotel as our first night in Italy, bus to the airport, flight to NYC, six-hour layover there, flight to Charlotte, and 2-hour drive back to Clemson. Whew.

It was a wonderful trip! Viva Italia!