Italy, Day 2
Monday
We checked out of the Hotel Paolino and immediately headed for the beach. We walked along the shoreline for a bit, but I refused to go in the water because P read somewhere that there are tons of jelly fish in that area right now. But there were people in the water… I guess they either didn’t hear, or didn’t care, about the jelly fish. So then we laid out on in the sun for a bit before getting some brunch and getting on the road toward Pisa.
An hour or so later we arrived in Pisa, and I saw that famous leaning tower for the first time! It is amazing!! We took some ridiculously touristy photos which you may laugh at below. (Oooh, and we also came across a fellow UC Davis Aggie!!!) I think the thing I will remember most about the Leaning Tower of Pisa is standing at its base and looking up at the top of the tower… it gives the illusion that the tower is coming down and is going to fall right on top of you!!! It is such a weird feeling!
We weren’t in Pisa long before we drove to Lucca, a small town near Pisa. We found a hotel pretty quickly, the Piccolo Hotel Puccini, but then had to find a way to get our bags to the hotel. Lucca is a small town with small roads… I guess that’s what happens when the town was built before the SUV came about. So P had the daunting task of driving these little streets while I attempted to navigate, a difficult task in a town that resembles a maze, from the passenger seat. We got the car parked and the bags in our room and set out to find some dinner. Easier said than done…. TWO HOURS LATER(!!!), we finally found a restaurant where I could eat!! (Okay, there were a couple others where I COULD eat, but the risotto had mushrooms in it and that is soooooo not okay with me!) So we found a restaurant with mushroom-free risotto, had dinner and a bottle of wine, and headed back to the hotel. Since we wandered around for so long trying to find food, we figured we were probably at least a few minutes away… nope. Like two blocks. Yeah, like two blocks. Oh, and the best part is… on our way back to the hotel we walked past this restaurant where P had eaten before (but we couldn’t find it when we were looking for it), which means the restaurant we were looking for was only a block away from our hotel… and we checked the menu… I totally could’ve eaten there, too!!! Hahaha whatever… dinner was delicious, and we had a good time.
