A drive through Tuscany

We woke early to pick up our rental car at the airport.  Interestingly enough, the map refers to the airport as "Amerigo Vespuci", however our rental car information and the shuttle bus called it Pernatola.  An airport by any other name is still as small, it was a very tiny airport.

Inside another church in Lucca

We drove first to Lucca, which is a quaint medieval town inside an ancient rampart.  It was very pretty, and the streets were very narrow.  To compound the driving issues, the pedestrians/bicyclists/etc. ruled the streets.  They got out of the way if they felt like it, and when they felt like it.  We had breakfast in a patisserie that was so authentic Italian that when we ordered our "café Americano" we got espresso and cup of hot water to dilute it ourselves.  I don't know what the apple filled pastry we ate for breakfast was, but it was amazing.   Lucca also had churches, but they were medieval churches, very different from the renaissance churches seen in Florence.   

J in Lucca

After Lucca, we did our obligatory stop in Pisa.  Jay wanted to drive by and just, "Slow down so that you can take the picture and we move on."  We didn't quite do it that fast, but almost.  We did see some beautiful landscape as we drove to Pisa, including a field of sunflowers. 

The tower area was like Florence, so full of tourists everywhere.  Traffic was bad, and finding parking was even more insane.  There didn't seem to be designated and organized places to park, just find someplace somewhere to leave the car.  We found a spot about ¼ mile away, which was pretty good.  We walked to the plaza, took pictures of the tower, and didn't even go in the duomo.  We did notice a weird bronze statue in the plaza, though, that looked like human babies suckling off of a wolf???

Inside a Church in Lucca

Getting OUT of Pisa was not as easy as getting in.  Traffic was bad and the roads not marked so much.  After many, "Turn here, are you SURE??" and, "Didn't we just drive here??" type of exchanges we finally got onto the Autostrade and out of the city.  The drive to Piombino, where we picked up the ferry to Elba Island, was uneventful and quick.  We, amazingly and in a true departure from our previous experiences, arrived at the ferry with PLENTY OF TIME.

When we arrived on the island we found the driving to be white knuckle.  The roadways are very narrow and the island is very mountainous, so there are a lot of turns and switchbacks.  There are also a bunch of crazy Italians on motorcycles/scooters zooming by you on these blind turns.  There are also pedestrians, bicyclists, and tourists pulled only half off a barely two cars wide road to take pictures.  Jay has commented several times that he's very happy we have such a small car!

Street in Lucca

We found our hotel on Elba without incident.  We checked in and had dinner and were exhausted, so we pretty much went to bed by 9:30 pm.  At this hotel (www.hotelilio.com) dinner and breakfast are included.  Dinner was excellent, with fish so fresh Jay kept raving that it must have been swimming that morning.

Famous Church in Lucca

Driving in Lucca

Exiting Lucca

Pisa Distance

Drive to Pisa

Sunflowers in Tuscany

Pisa Duomo

Strange Statue.

The tower

Cape St. Andrea

Elba View