Villa San Michele (Residence) Lucca

Kim had taken her grandma to Lucca last November and had fallen in love with the place. <br><br>We found a park not far from the city walls and then headed in for a look. We came across a chocolate festival in one of the piazzas and sampled a few beforw buying a hot cocolate drink...literally hot chocolate in a cup. It made me feel a bit sick.<br><br>Walking Lucca is like a big ...

I had thought about going to a town which was half an hour away by train to look at a chocolate shop there which was supposed to be quite unique, but I didn&#8217;t feel very well and the thought of being on another local train didn&#8217;t appeal to me. I decided to look at the local chocolate shop in Lucca but it was closed on Mondays. The ...

... 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>

... and also what looked like a whole boned roasted pig which they just cut slices through. It wasn't even refrigerated. We then went to hire bikes and ride around the wall. Tara wasn&#8217;t too keen on it, so her and Greg went tandem. It was lots of fun and we managed to go around twice which was 6 km. We walked through the city, getting a gelato as usual and window shopped (many of the shops were closed for siesta ...

Buon Giorno! This morning we arrived in Italy! Livorno to be exact! Italy's third largest seaport. The port city for Pisa, Florence and the Tuscan region! Our tour of choice - Pisa! Gotta see "The Field of Miracles"! <br><br>The Leaning Tower of Pisa or simply The Tower of Pisa (La Torre di Pisa) is the campanile, or freestanding bell tower, of the cathedral of the Italian city of Pisa. It is situated behind the cathedral ...

... should make sure that people sitting together will be able to engage in stimulating conversation. My seatmate was an attractive older student who didn&#8217;t have much to say until about an hour before landing, and then he kept getting interrupted by A Woman Of A Certain Age who insisted on telling him how handsome he was. SHE should have been seated next to HIM, and I should have been seated next to nuns. I&#8217;m ...

... His music is iconic to a particular period in my youth and had me alternately in stunned awe and tears. The crowd were fantastic and everybody remarked how his voice was so much more expressive with age (he's now 73). His performance was, like his music, understated and professional without being slick or showy. His modesty and humility shone through in the few moments when he spoke with the crowd (although you could say his music was speaking ...

Cinque Terre Cinque Terre, five beautiful little villages on the clifftops of the west coast of Italy, seem to make people lose track of time somehow. So many people I've met these last few days were like me, and extended their stay for as long as ...

... camera (not that it would have captured the moment right either). We climbed this large tower that had a tree on top of it. The rule, I believe, is that no building may be built taller than the church of the city, but one family needed to out-do the others...hence the tree on top. The mountain and hills were all around us on the outskirts of the town and I just stood there and ate the chocolate I had bought at a small store while I watched the sunset ...