Day 5 Lucca, Pisa & Vinci

Cafe
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Another beautiful day in Italy!! I woke up in Lucca and enjoyed a tasty breakfast in the hotel: rice crispies, pastry, and cappuccino. Jacek lead us on a brief tour on the city at 8am. Lucca is best known for its amazing fortification system. The man made walls and earthen burms are now utilized as a public park and running trail around the city. We visited a modern café/restaurant built into the stone wall. It was a really neat space. A couple of cathedrals later we made our way into the city square. It was round and was originally a cathedral. One of my favorite things in the city was a tall abandoned building with 3 cypress trees growing on top. Next stop was Pisa. My first impression wasn’t very positive. There were lots of guys trying to see junk on the sides of the streets and get up in your face. I definitely watched my belongings closely. It was extremely touristy: tour buses, groups, vendors, and fake Gucci. We learned about the cathedral, baptistery, bell tower(leaning tower of pisa), and the cemetery. There was many large stretches of green, freshly mowed grass. People were playing Frisbee and relaxing in the sun. Natalee and I decided that we wanted to go up in the leaning tower. It was quite and experience! The angle was phenomenal, you could defiantly feel the tilt as we wound around the circular building. It began to lean in the 12 c. and the architect tried to straighten it. A few years ago concrete had to be injected beneath it to prevent catastrophic damage. It was a fun 294 steps up. From the top we could see the whole city and the giant bells. Vinci was the last city we explored that day. It was the home of Leonardo da’ Vinci. There was a whole museum dedicated to his inventions and creative ideas. Emily and I found the library and used the internet to check our email. From there we continued to Florence.