Blogs from Lucca, Tuscany, Italy, Europe - page 11

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Europe » Italy » Tuscany » Lucca June 2nd 2008

We were planning to have a beach day today and a look at a picturesque lake on the way but it started to rain. According to my research this was supposed to be the hottest part of our trip, looks like I’m going to miss out on my second summer after all. Not to worry, we went back to Lucca; I love this place. The streets and old houses are beautiful but unfortunately cameras can’t take as good a photo as your eyes, especially in the narrow streets. I can’t recall the last time I went to a church at home but here we just love them. They are so magnificent. Unfortunately in the best one we weren’t allowed to take photos (you’re probably breathing a sigh of relief) but it was free. The best things ... read more
Streets of Lucca
Window shopping
Impressive doorways

Europe » Italy » Tuscany » Lucca May 31st 2008

Off to the market in Lucca this morning to stock up on fresh food, we’re being adventurous and trying new veggies, even the kids. While we’re so close (1hr round trip) we take a detour to Pisa. Hundreds of people trying to do the ‘holding up the tower’ photo (which we also tried), the town walls lined with souvenir stalls (as expected) and dozens of Africans holding trinkets, watches and handbags to sell. But I wasn’t really expecting anything else. So we had a picnic on the side steps of the church and took in the interesting buildings before heading back to Lucca. Now this is a great town. Surrounded by fortified walls with no cars allowed, it’s busy but quite peaceful. Lucca in its day was a more prosperous town than Florence, the buildings and ... read more
Duomo at Pisa
Unassuming church exterior in Lucca
....but inside it's specatcular

Europe » Italy » Tuscany » Lucca May 21st 2008

Bluck! That word (just made up) pretty much summarises today's ride. Our planned route (which looked so good on the map) was to follow the quiet roads down the river Arno, cutting off about 20kms east of Pisa and head towards Lucca where we would spend a night at a hostel. I don't think in the end we chose a bad route, as there were loads of local cyclists out racing and training absolutely everywhere, so they must think it is a good enough route to ride, but the whole day was just spent in heavy traffic with very little to see really. Oh, and of course Florence wouldn't let us go, it took us at least an hour to get out of town as I took us down one wrong turn after another, and then ... read more

Europe » Italy » Tuscany » Lucca May 18th 2008

It's great how you can wake up on a Sunday morning and decide on the spot to visit a little town in Tuscany. For me that town was Lucca. All day it was raining so luckily there wasn't a whole lot of sightseeing in Lucca. There's a Cathedral, a Baptistry on ancient ruins, a couple of nice piazzas, nicely preserved medieval fortification walls, and a museum. That's all we managed to find of typical touristy things to do. What made the trip memorable was stumbling across an antiques market. From old furniture to books, from jewellery to farm equipment, from pots and pans to lace, coins and umbrellas. You name it, if it was old, it was there. These stalls were set up throughout all the little streets in the old town, surrounding the Cathedral. The ... read more
inside the Cathedral
Baptistry & the market
San Michele in Foro

Europe » Italy » Tuscany » Lucca May 18th 2008

Ciao from Italy! I've not been in italy for any more than 3 days and I think I've found my dream man.... everyone told me to watch out for the italian men but I didn't think it would happen this quickly!! He's gorgous - tall, lean and muscular with these amazing sexy eyes. I met him yesterday just by chance while wandering around the Accademia de Galleria. He caught my eye from across the room and from that moment on, I was entranced by his beauty.... Yes his name is David. What a shame he is made of marble.... but still lush in most other ways.... I'm having an amazing time here in Italy, even though the weather has been pretty crap until this afternoon. I've spent the last 2 days in Florence which was cool ... read more

Europe » Italy » Tuscany » Lucca May 10th 2008

Well....it is now the 6th July as I write this entry in front of a roaring fire in a farmhouse built in 1881 in the south west Dordogne province, near the world famous Bordeaux region of France (yes, its early July and its still cold enough for a fire). We have been traveling in Europe for over two months and it is only now that I have some time to sit down and try and get this blog up to date. Our time here has been action packed as we have covered fourteen countries and traversed most of the continent during the last 75 days. We've traveled by planes, trains, automobiles as well as various forms of ferries, including one that could carry two entire trains in it's hold! We had decided from the outset of ... read more
Cathedral, Lucca
Breakfast with a View
Restaurant Revisited

Europe » Italy » Tuscany » Lucca April 28th 2008

Hello all- Well today we went in search of a vineyard in hopes of a tour and a couple of tastings. We were looking to head to a town called Monte Carlo which sounded like the gateway to several vineyards in the hills. Unfortunately the train schedule did not match our schedule so we were forced to take a train to a different city called Pescia just down the road 30 miles. We werent sure what to expect as the city was not listed in any of our guidebooks and the train station was quite small. Anyways being up for an adventure we jumped off the train in search of 'vineyard' tours. We walked the whole city (after a stop at the grocery store for salami, cheese, olives, tomatoes, and vino) and found nothing. I am ... read more
Part of todays adventure
Dinner
Views from Tuscany

Europe » Italy » Tuscany » Lucca April 27th 2008

Hello all- Well it has been a couple of crazy days. Sorry for the lack of updates over the last few days, I am sure many of you were waiting for the Friday afternoon installment. The title of the blog pretty much sums up the last few days both in scenery and emotions. Ill give a quick recap of our events and I am such Lyndsay will backfill!!! Friday AM-Woke up in our Florence hostel with no place to spend the night, spent a few hours looking for something in the hostel and found a campground about 30 miles from Florence (peak). As it was the only reasonable priced option, that was our choice. And when I say reasonable I mean anything under $400 per night. Feeling good about our selves we thought we would venture ... read more
Enjoying the sunset from the Villa
Napping
Enjoying the day

Europe » Italy » Tuscany » Lucca April 26th 2008

Riding Bikes in Lucca!... read more
Kevin
Me and Christy
All of us

Europe » Italy » Tuscany » Lucca March 25th 2008

Ciao. Yes, I know, not much blogging lately. We left San Casciano yesterday. We wwoofed for 9 days and stayed and extra day cause we found out buses dont run on Pasqua (Easter). We did get to enjoy Easter lunch with our wwoof family. They were great. Kirsten, Pascal, Rudy, Oliver, and Anna. We had a great time and felt like part of a large italian family. And did I mention the food. Incredible. We learned to make homemade pasta (ravioli and noodles). Wonderful local wines. We had an apartment to ourselves. We did work pretty hard a few days (clearing out brambles, bamboo, etc.. off a bank that was in danger of taking over an olive garden). And did I mention we both made a couple of prints. You artsy folks would have loved it. ... read more




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