Lucca, Pisa, and Carrera
The dominant feature of Lucca is its massive city wall. Unlike the older walls of other Tuscan cities, the Luccan walls were built after the advent of cannons and gunpowder. Therefore, these walls are very wide and relatively short. No longer needed to provide protection from invading Bourbons or Habsburgs, they make for an excellent park and walkway all around the town.
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We stayed at a perfectly situated hotel, right in the center of the city, the Hotel Luna.
The heart of Lucca is the anfiteatro, an elliptical piazza whose buildings mark the shape of a second century Roman amphitheater. The ground floor buildings house restaurants, gelaterias, and souvenir shops and the upper floors are residences. This photo was taken very early in the morning so there are no people about. Most of the time it's filled with tourists, diners, and people watchers.
A local historian and guide led us on a very informative walk around Lucca.
The medieval streets of Lucca at sunrise
Lucca is a great town for shoppers. This jewelry store has been in business since about 1520!
Lucca's cathedral
We took a day trip from Lucca to a nearby co-operative olive mill. Local olive farmers pool their harvest and make and market their olive oil.
The "Workman's Lunch" we had at the olive press was simple but delicious--one of the best meals on the trip.
The olives are pressed under these stone wheel, pits and all . . .
and then the resultant slurry is pressed to produce extra virgin olive oil.
Only a short 30 minute bus ride from Lucca is Pisa. We took advantage of our free afternoon in Lucca, bought a bus ticket, and took a wild bus ride at high speed, around sharp turns, and the bus horn blaring. We got out right in front of the Field of Miracles, where the Pisa Cathedral, Baptistry, the Camposanto, (or cemetery), and the main attraction, the Cathedral campanile--the famous leaning tower.
What are these people doing?
This.
No caption needed.
Cathedral interior
All of the ground under the Field of Miracles is unstable. The campanile is not the only structure that visibly leans. This is the baptistry. The acoustics inside are unbelievable. At the top of every hour and half past a worker sings out a series of notes forming a chord. Each tone continues to resonate for several seconds, creating a sound that is captivating and otherworldly.
The camposanto is a burial ground for Pisan big shots. Several shiploads of soil were brought from Golgotha to Pisa to form the cemetery, so it was where everyone who was anyone wanted to be buried.
On the way from Lucca to the Italian Riviera, we stopped in Carrara, home of the famous white marble from which Michelangelo's "David" was carved. We had to transfer into a small bus that could fit on the narrow switchbacks up the mountain where the marble is quarried.
The scale of the marble blocks is huge.
Retired workers have saved old equipment used in the quarry and statues have been carved of the animals used before the advent of gasoline engines.