Walls and Towers

One of our first outings in Tuscany was to Lucca, about an hour away from our Villa. We weren't planning to go there, but changed our mind after a very persuasive discussion I had with Geoff's friend Tim on the dance floor at our wedding. I wasn't sure how much of the enthusiasm in his argument was because Lucca was just that awesome and how much was coming from the beer in his hand. Could have easily been either cause Lucca really was super cool.

Lucca is known best for the the walls around the old town remaining completely intact - unusual for cities in the region. As the walls lost their military importance, they became a pedestrian promenade which encircled the old town, so there is this awesome road around the top of the walls, looking down on the whole old city.

We got there and found a restaurant for lunch - Lucca is also where the composer Giacomo Puccini (Madame Butterfly & La Boheme) was born - and our restaurant had a bit of a Puccini theme. And they brought out bread in cute little galvanized buckets, kind of like what our wedding favors were supposed to be in (potted basil, which represents love), until they were destroyed by the multiple thunderstorms. But that's another story.


After lunch we rented bikes and rode all around the city. Which was awesome. I felt very much like I was on an Italian honeymoon (which of course I was), but in the 1950s. We look lots of pictures.


I liked the bread in the window...

In one of the town's largest piazzas

Down a side street

Yet another side street - i like the bug.

Mrs. Boka & her bike

Riding around the tree covered road along the top of the walls of the city was a moment I will never forget. So amazing.


Since Pisa was close by, we popped over there for dinner. Like you do. Everyone had said that the Leaning tower of Pisa was kinda boring, but we actually thought it was really cool. And we got there when the light was awesome.

A building right next to the place we had dinner.

Another building that looked awesome in the light.

Magic hour. The tower is out of the frame, but directly to the right of this shot.

I loved this lady, checking the bus schedule

A budding photographer...

The tower itself...



As you can perhaps tell, we were pretty worn out by the time this shot was taken. It had been a full day - first Lucca, then PIsa...and even with a trip to the beach at Viareggio in between that I didn't even mention (maybe cause it was a little Atlantic City-ish and I got hot and cranky so we left pretty quickly). I was pooped. But what an AWESOME day.