Albergo Celide Lucca

... market (without the sampling) with lots of lovery deli's, cafe's and patisseries. Ofcourse we had to buy the local pastry called a buccellato which is kind of a cross between a biscuit and a fruit loaf... yummy with the morning coffee.<br><br>Before too long Kim pointed out her favorite bar from last time and pull me in to join her in a wine or 3. The tapas were as good as Kim had ...

... on the main street near our apartment and came across one which we hadn&#8217;t seen open before- it had beautiful looking pastries- why didn&#8217;t we find it before our last day? Actually, I didn&#8217;t think they were as nice as the French ones we had.<br> We had to pack our bags and get organised for the move out of the apartment.

... and then coming back to Riomaggiore station, walking through the tunnel to the town for a quick look, then went back to catch the trains home. What was amazing between La Spezia and Viareggio was the mountains where they quarry the Carrera marble and the large blocks of marble that lay in the yards. Both of the railway stations, despite being fairly grotty, had subways lined with marble as well as marble seats. We arrived home fairly late and were all tired.

Just realized those not on facebook haven't seen pictures from Pisa and Florence. No long recap of Anthony and I's weekend in Tuscany, for obvious reasons. Also note that "Anthony and Alison's Great Adventure" was like taking a knife.<br><br>Love you guys! :)<br>

... We found a restaurant that had been recommended called Ristorante Giglio but we arrived too early- in true Italian style, it didn&#8217;t open until 7:30 pm, so we just had to go promenading with the locals until it opened. I came across the chocolate shop open that was closed earlier when we went past so I had a look. The dinner at the restaurant was probably the best meal we had had in Italy. I had a Tuscan dish ...

We woke up to rain again but thought, what the heck, they had forecast "sprinkles", we would just head to Pisa on the train. It was a regional train, which in Italy means old and pretty gross with dirty windows and usually stuffy. Only half an hour though and we were there- I had spotted the Leaning Tower and Cathedral when we were near the first Pisa stop (Pisa San Rossore which we realised later that we could have easily ...

... called Easy Pisa, was a short 3.5 hour tour that took us by guided motor coach from Livorno to the center of Pisa. On the way, Elsie noticed a group of cyclists, riding toward Livorno, seemingly enjoying the perfect conditions for a Sunday morning ride! In Pisa, we had time to visit the Field of Miracle which includes the Leaning (Bell)Tower, Duomo, Baptistery of Giovanni and Camposanto. Surrounding much of Pisa are ...

... for the day, time to take in an afternoon snack. Jo's got the right idea of course...with a quick serving of gelato from a local vendor. Marvin opts for a "wake-up" espresso at the Di Simo Cafe, another local and tourist favorite. Di Simo has been in Lucca since 1846, and was a favorite place to go for Giacomo Puccini, the Luccan opera composer ...

... have the van and after paying another 80 Euro for towing fees the attendant walked us through the market and down several back alleys to a huge garage. Thankfully we were beyond the market and were able to drive back to the Hostel in Lucca and pick up the gals. All in all only a 90 minute delay, we still got to Florence in plenty of time to tour the Duomo and for Sarah, Leanne &amp; Margaret to get to the Uffizi in plenty of time for their tour.

... back to Spokane, I haven't seem my friends in a summer and a semester. Will it still be the same? Plus I am moving into a new house with new girls and that transition will be hard but so fun! The good news is that my life i Florence is only a call away day or night and my life is Spokane is starting up again! I miss everyone and I am so excited to go back! I get to make cookies with my mom and hang out with my dad, I get to celebrate John's 18th ...