Pisa and Lucca

---

Today we took a long drive through the Tuscan countryside, from our Villa to Pisa, and then to Lucca.

The road we took (which has the unlikely name of “Li-Pi-Fi”) winds along the ridgelines, valleys and riversides of Tuscany. Beautiful!

At one point we got behind a very slow moving car that had traffic backed up for miles. Unfortunately, the road was so narrow that with oncoming traffic there was nowhere to go … OR SO WE THOUGHT … at one point a car from behind came racing past us in the oncoming lane! Jeff slammed on the brakes in hopes of avoiding the debris from the imminent and inevitable crash … but the crash did not come. Just before the point of impact, the oncoming car inched a bit to its right and the racing car threaded the space between the two cars in a way that defied the laws of physics. When our adrenaline levels and heart rates dropped we all concurred that it was the craziest driving we had ever scene. Lucky to be alive.

When we arrived in Pisa Jeff and Fuzzy, with a big assist from a local street vendor, managed to parallel park our minivan into a spot more suited for a Smart Car.

We walked to the Leaning Tower of Pisa … which was … of course … leaning. The Tower was amazing, but we had as much fun watching people take photos while pretending to hold the Tower up. One lad had positioned a very expensive camera on a tri-pod and had his girlfriend balancing one-legged on a post, pretending to support the ancient tower … anything for a photo.

From Pisa we made the short drive to Lucca, one of the few European cities that has the entirety of its historic wall intact. You can walk, run or ride bikes around the city on the top of the wall. Jeanne thought Jeff was crazy when he suggested that we could rent bikes and ride on the wall. She envisions a narrow battlement 3 feet wide, where one wrong turn could send the rider tumbling off the top of the wall. In fact the “top of the wall” is park-like walkway about 50 feet wide that is perfect for bike riding, jogging or just a leisurely stroll. In the end we did not ride bikes, but we did walk along the top of the wall after we had had a nice lunch in the village.

Tonight was our last night in the Villa, so we purchased some meat, cheese, bread, olives and wines (and some good cookies too) and had a picnic outside on the patio.



We cannot believe the trip is coming to an end.

---

Comments

[Lisa Stone]

Awesome!
Wow what an amazing an memorable trip for all of you! Beautiful pictures and funny stories. Can't wait to see everyone. Safe return!