Continuing to explore Tuscany

Today we continued exploring the Tuscany region, visiting Lucca and Pisa.

We started our day grabbing coffee on the road from a cute cafe on the outskirts of a small town, and then drove straight on to Lucca.

At Lucca we parked outside their old town, and then walked through the gates of the walled medieval city. Lucca’s old town is quite large, and it was fun walking up and down the city streets- it felt like a smaller version of Rome. For lunch we grabbed paninis from a local shop and were impressed by the quality of the food.

After lunch we headed to a tower topped with trees that we’d seen called Guinigi Tower, and we climbed to the top for absolutely epic views. After enjoying the views, we walked to a plaza we’d seen from the top called Piazza dell'Anfiteatro. This plaza was really neat as it was oval shaped, with shops and housing encircling the plaza area. After the plaza we continued exploring a bit, and then hit the road to our next destination, Pisa.

Upon arriving in Pisa we saw that it was quite a tourist hotspot, with hundreds of people around the leaning tower taking pictures with it. We also saw that people were at the top of the tower, and we’d had no idea you could go up it! We inquired about tickets, and were fortunate there were some available for a few hours out.

After purchasing tickets to climb the leaning tower later in the day, we explored the beautiful cathedral nearby. Following that we walked through Pisa, exploring the old town. Eventually Chelsea grabbed some chocolate gelato which was fantastic, and then we walked along the river running through town before heading back to our tower climb.

Climbing the leaning tower of Pisa was quite trippy, as everything inside is at a 4 degree tilt. When we got to the top the views were spectacular, although the lean was unnerving and made you feel a bit like being on a boat. We enjoyed the views for quite awhile, and then headed back to our car for the drive home. On our way we grabbed more groceries for another round of cooking. Tonight Chelsea made carbonara pasta with veggies, and it was fantastic!Les mer