Pisa and Lucca

After packing up and heading out of Bologna, we made our way towards Pisa.  We briefly discussed skipping it and leaving it for the next day, but decided it was best to go and get it over with before making our way to Lucca.DSC_0179-001

We found some free parking (score!) and then walked 15 minutes to see the one thing that brings tourists around the world.DSC_0220-001

We took a bunch of the obligatory photos….

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And then we left.  What do people do in Pisa?  They hold up the tower and then they leave.  Hahah

LUCCA

We drove 30 more minutes and headed to Lucca.DSC_0301-001

(It was the Summer Festival while we were there and they had some pretty big names playing.  Imagine Dragons?  Luis Fonsi?!?)

Like many of the other, previous towns, Lucca is a National Heritage Site and it’s forbidden to drive inside of the historical center, unless you’re a taxi.  Our Ferrari is not a taxi, so we spent a looooot of time looking for parking.  For one, the internet says you CAN park inside the city walls.  But inside, it says you can’t and you will be fined.  So we tried to ask where to park.  Some people said “if you park in a blue spot, you have to pay before 8 pm and after 8 am.  If you park in a white spot, it’s free.  Other people said the same for the blue spot and the white spots are free for one hour.  How do they know you’ve been there one hour?  You write the time on a piece of paper and leave it on the dash.DSC_0235-001

Either they borrowed their nobody knows nuttin’ policy from Spain or vice versa.  Either way, we left the car for an hour and then went to the hotel (Lucca Charm– really nice place if you need a place to stay), and then went and reparked the car.

The cool thing about Lucca is that it’s surrounded by these huge city walls (4.2 km in total) and the city sits inside.  If you want to know more about the history, click here.  

After moving the car again, we walked around for a bit…DSC_0233-001 

And maybe we had some foccacia.  Maybe.

But we were quite hungry, so we stopped for dinner at the first place we saw.  Literally.DSC_0249-001

We had wine, obviously.DSC_0251-001And an overpriced salad…

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Bruschetta…

DSC_0260-001Some gnocchi with a light (haha) cheese and walnut sauce (I really liked this)

DSC_0258-001A mushroom omelette…

And then we had gelato and walked around more.DSC_0271-001

The next morning, we had breakfast after doing the 4.2 km run ON the wall.  There were lots of people out walking and biking:

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Walked around a bit more, and then Luis decided to get a pizza and a little cheesy sandwich thing from this place:DSC_0305-002

Highly recommended.

Overall, I liked Lucca, but didn’t LOVE it like I did with some of the other cities.  I’m glad we went, but wasn’t in love with it like I thought I might be.

Overall Lucca tips:

  • Lucca Charm is a great little B&B with really, really friendly owners.
  • Park outside of the city walls in white lines if possible.  If not possible, park in blue lines and pay.  It’s not expensive.
  • Pizza Pellegrini is really really good and reasonably priced.  (Get the folded over sandwich….calzone it is not)