Hotel Melecchi Lucca

... on internet and then back to the bar for more wine and tapas.<br><br>Sun 15 <br>Did some chores... yes we have some, we are not totaly void of resposibility. Went to the supermarket to stock up on food and went to an Aire d'service to empty Theo (our Thescott cassette toilet). Enough of that and we were back in the walls checking out the Antiques Market and eating Gelati... YUM!!<br>

... one was also closed, but there were no hours on the doors. Tara had said that she wanted to go bike riding but this time on her own bike which she handled quite well and we rode twice around the wall then walked back to the playground which the girls had seen everytime we rode around the town. On the way home we decided to look for a ...

... the bus to the village rather than take the 363 steps up. We had a quick look around, at a small chuch as well as a lookout and then walked down the steps, back to the train station. By this time, the girls were getting tired as it was quite a bit warmer than the weather we were used to &#8211; in the mid- twenties I would say. We thought we were catching the train to Manarola, the next station as we were going to walk from Manarola to Riomaggiore but for ...

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>

... also talked everyone into climbing the Clock Tower as we still had tickets for it from the day it rained. It was a pretty hard climb and a bit smelly from pigeon poo. The view was worth it though. We also had a coffee at a bar which was also a bit of a delicatessen and I found Amedi chocolate which is made in Tuscany and is supposed to be very nice.<br><br>We went home for a rest as we were heading out later for ...

... our balcony!<br><br>Back on the Ruby, we had time to relax on the Sun Deck. It was a very warm afternoon, in the high 20's so a relaxing couple hours seemed in order! Being a tourist can be exhausting! <br><br>We made sure we had dinner early as the final show of the Broadway Ballroom was in the Princess Theatre at 8:30pm. This show rivaled a very high level performance as the show featured the talents of the ...

... all though was HIGHLY amusing! Oh, these Tuscans&#8230; they&#8217;re very proud of their language and way of life!<br> DAY NINE<br> Sunday&#8211; a totally lazy day. Giuseppina fried something for lunch&#8211; veal cutlets, I think. In Italian they&#8217;re called cotoletti di vitello, which doesn&#8217;t sound so politically incorrect. Afterward I decided to bike ride a few miles to Lucca, as everyone was in the ...

... Wow. Not just because of the money spent centuries ago on the items and the money spent now to display the items but just the level of commitment to these 'items'. I saw my first Religious reliquary today, part of the arm bone of a Saint placed inside a piece of art on display. A real life saint, this is always one of the interestng parts of visiting a civilisation that is much older than my own. The stories I have only read about are actually ...

Cinque Terre is a set of five villages on the west coast of Italy. They are linked by a 12 km trail and a train line (walking is often faster). We started our stay by hiking the trail between the villages. The first two sections are pretty easy and the next two are pretty tough. The trail follows the coast line along hills that rise steeply out of the ocean. The hills have been used by locals for farming or something ...

... cooked in the wood fired oven. It had rock salt sprinkled on top and was moist and flaky and fabulous. We bought some to take home for dinner, but discovered it has to be eaten straight from the oven. It dries out in no time flat, and goes all chewy. Good value and an interesting experience. One guy eating alone, demolished a seafood platter, a bottle of red wine, basket of bread, bottle of mineral water a coffee and a glass of ...