The tower

Experience 23. Cycling and Cobblestones. Lucca. 16 June

Venturing from our home in Montecatini, our first stop today was the fortified medieval town of Lucca, famous for being the birthplace of Puccini. Popular with the locals, cycling through the town was an option taken up by 4 in our group. John and I picked up our hire pushbikes, did a few laps of the car park to get the feel of our bikes, then off we went. Town maps in hand. Left then right then right then left. Bouncing over the cobblestones in the narrow streets. Dodging people, cars, vespas, polizia. Stopping at every piazza to figure out where we were. Finally we found our way to our destination, an amphitheater come circular piazza surrounded by shops, cafes and apartments. "Due cappucini per favore" we asked the waiter. After our caffe we hopped back on our bikes and did a bit more of the same. Stopping to view a statue of Puccini, we bumped into Kristen. Her mum, Jen, came off her bike and broke her new pair of Raybans so they returned theirs early as Jen decided she didn't like this experience. Whereas we were having a blast, finding it a little bit tricky through the streets with all the traffic and the people that had to be negotiated we decided to head for the wall that circled the whole town. With a bike and pedestrian path on the top of the wall we had a great ride all the way around. Lots of fun and a welcome change from pounding the cobblestones.

Experience 24. Leaning on the Tower. Pisa. 16 June.

Going to see the leaning tower was something we were really looking forward to and it didn't disappoint. We left the bus and picked up a little train that Aldo our guide called the "Noddy" train. This took us to a drop off point in the centre of town. We rounded a corner and there is was. Awesome! Diana (not the princess) but a lovely lady in our tour group said that it was a lot whiter than it used to be, when she had seen it before. It had apparently been cleaned recently. It shimmered in the heat of the day. The setting including the cathedral and surrounds only added to the atmosphere.

The lawns surrounding the tower were perfectly manicured and the police spent much of their time chasing people off blowing their whistles with little effect...no one was able to see the keep off the grass signs although they were posted every couple of meters.

It was interesting watching people setting up their poses so that they looked like they were leaning against the leaning tower in photos taken by their friends. There were rows of them and they looked pretty odd without the context of the tower itself. Chez and I found a piece of grass that we were allowed to sit on (being law abiding types) and took a few pictures using the tower as a prop, it was actually a fun thing to do, although the one where I was lying on my back with my feet on the tower suggested a few ab exercises will be needed once I get home!

Experience 25. Dante's Farm

Dante owned an olive grove. It wasn't a very big one, but he did make nice olive oil courtesy of the co-operative olive oil press. Dante told us all about different olive oil regions and how you made virgin or otherwise...should the seeds be included or excluded...etc etc. It was a sultry afternoon, hot and still. We gave Dante a clap and moved into the back of his farm house for fresh local Tuscan fair. We started with a cold vegetable soup that was so delicious it was difficult not to pass up the anti pasta that followed for another bowl....and another.

Dante also gave us information about the white, red and desert vino's we sampled, but by then I for one was much more interested in the consumption than the characteristics.

Today's Run:

At first light, before the heat of the day could set in I set off on a run from our hotel up the hill towards Alto. The track followed the foniculare track. It was rocky and steep and I was soon thinking this was maybe a bad idea. I had to walk some sections because the footing was a bit dodgy and a twist up here would be a bad thing...also as I said it was steep...so I was getting a bit tired. The views were the same as when we travel the hill on the funiculare, but maybe a touch more satisfying. I walked down because the footing seemed even more treacherous than the trip up..plus did I mention that it was a bit steep and I was tired? At the bottom was able to stretch out a bit with a nice run through the local park where most of the locals took their morning jog.