Italy - Day 4 (Pisa & Lucca)

On Day 4, we woke up early, walked to the Siena train station, and took the 8:47am train to Pisa. The cost of train travel is very reasonable. The one-way tickets cost only 7.10 Euros per person.After arriving in Pisa, we walked 3/4 mile with our luggage to our hotel. Hotel Novecento was beautiful. We had one of the ground floor "garden rooms". The owner, Francesca, was very nice, the garden was relaxing, and everything in the room was new and very clean. Do you remember my boneheaded act of withdrawing all of our travel money? Well, Francesca just happened to have an upcoming vacation in the United States. We exchanged currency at a very favorable rate for both of us.

We didn't stay long in the hotel though. Instead, we raced over to the Leaning Tower, which was only a few blocks away. Climbing of the Leaning Tower is allowed, but only by reservation and only 30 people are allowed to enter per half hour. We made reservations as soon as we got there, and fortunately, there were openings available within the hour.

While walking around waiting to climb the tower, we realized we weren't properly dressed for the weather in Pisa. Siena had been extremely cold, with nighttime lows of approximately 35 degrees F. Pisa was around 75 degrees and very humid. Many levels of the tower were off-limits to tourists. We were allowed to stop briefly somewhere halfway up. Here's a photo of the duomo and baptistery from that spot....Obviously, many people have climbed the tower before us....There are two levels at the top: a full floor and a circular walkway above it.....
The front door is very unassuming for the grandness of the building.
The scaffolding in this photo really shows the angle of the tower.... Like all other tourists here, we felt obligated to pose in front of the Leaning Tower.
While Brooke took on the supportive role (typical woman), I chose to push the tower over.... Interior of the Pisa Duomo....Besides the Leaning Tower, Duomo, and Baptistery, there isn't much to see in Pisa, so we caught the train to nearby Lucca. ...Lucca is a charming little town. For the first time since arriving in Italy, we were away from the hordes of tourists. Lucca felt like a normal city, where every other store isn't a souvenir/postcard vendor.

Lucca is surrounded by the ramparts, a 20-ft tall by 100-ft wide dirt and brick wall. No longer required for defending the city, the ramparts are now used as a park, ideal for jogging, biking, or just relaxing. Here's an aerial view of Lucca (the green area are the ramparts)....Entering Lucca through the ramparts... We rented bikes and leisurely rode around the ramparts, which is only around 2.5 miles long...Having left our guidebook in the hotel, we spent the rest of our time aimlessly riding through the city streets looking for the tower that's topped by oak trees....Success! One hour later, we find Guinigi Tower. We had the opportunity to climb the tower, but we were just too tired. Instead, we rewarded ourselves with gelato. Yummm...We got back to Pisa in time to catch the sunset over the Arno River....