Lucca and LeisureJul 3, 2011
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Walking into the town from our place-the wall and entrance ahead
Clock tower on the main street that we climbed
the bells of the clock tower
| Our second day in Lucca, we debated about whether to stay in town and see the local sights or go to Pisa. We decided to stay here since we didn't see a lot of it yesterday and none of us are really looking forward to getting back on a train or bus, even for a 30 minute ride. The itinerary included a hike up two towers in the city. The first is the Torre delle Ore, the town's clock tower that is 50 meters high or 207 steps to the top. It is narrow and the interior is wooden, with lots of bird droppings on every surface. The view from the top was amazing, you could see roof tops in every direction, with the hills off in the distance. The second tower, Torre Guinigi,was a privately owned tower until the last descendant willed it to the city. The family was wealthy and according to the story, somewhat unkind to the city residents. They planted oak trees on top of the tower in an attempt to repay the city for their unkind attitudes. Many wealthy families owned towers like this, but most have been destroyed. After this, we visited the city's underground tour of the inside of the walls. It was surprisingly large inside and the cool temperature was a nice break from the heat outside. I saw several more churches today, none with quite the impressive stained glass of Paris or Barcelona, but beautiful in their own way with paintings, statues, and one had a gorgeous painted ceiling over the front worship area. We had a leisurely afternoon and evening, with naps, reading, lizard catching, playing at the park and going for pizza(s) in the city. Tomorrow we head to Rome. |
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