Italy 2: Lucca and Florence

Lucca

As much as I was hesitant to leave the Cinque Terre, I was excited to see the small town of Lucca.  Turned out that we had a little difficulties with the train schedule that got us arriving late to Lucca.  We were unable to buy a ticket out of Vernazza to Lucca (every once in a while a man from the train company would sit out by the train at a small round table adorned with double tablecloths and write out carbon copy paper tickets but he was not there that day.) 

During the train ride, it was cloudy and looked like rain but when we got to Lucca it cleared up and was a beautiful day for a bike ride.  Lucca is known for its historical and perfectly preserved city walls.  The top of the walls has been turned into a park with bike path.  We rented bikes and had a wonderful ride around the entire city.

In Lucca, the wealthy citizens would build towers to show status and to be safe above the city streets.  We walked up one of the towers, Guinni Tower, and got a beautiful view of the entire city.  The tower even had full grown trees on top.  We also visited a church that had excavations from 1 BC.  In the excavations you could see old tiles, structures, and first century graffiti.



We stayed at a wonderful bed and breakfast in Lucca.  The room had beautiful wood beams that were exposed.  For our night in Lucca we had reservations at a well acclaimed restaurant.  When she showed up to the restaurant, it was closed.  We and a few others were standing next to the restaurant wondering what was happening.  Soon an Italian man came up to us and said "Restaurant Leo, no."  Then he ripped down the menu and threw it away.  He motioned us to follow him.  We did.  We ended up at a great little restaurant that the owner of the initial restaurant also owned.  We had some yummy spelt soup and roasted pork. 

Florence

Beautiful Art + Outstanding Food = Florence.  We started our day in Florence at the famous Duomo by Brunelleschi.  We climbed all the steps weaving between the inner and outer domes and to the top of the dome for a great view around Florence.  The dome and cathedral was more colorful than I had thought which made for beautiful photos.

We wandered over to Piazza Signoria which was the original site of Michelangelo's David.  The piazza is still lined with statues and has a wonderful feeling of history.  With such events of the Bonfire of the Vanities and the exact spot where the monk Savonarola was hung and burned for his statements against the Pope.

The next day we went to the Academia to see the David by Michelangelo.  We stood there for so much time just staring at the details in the muscles and the veins.  David's expression seemed so confident looking at it from one angle and then so unsure from another.  It was awe inspiring.

Piazza Signoria

We visited Santa Croce (pictured below) the church were many Florintines attended during the Renaissance and the final resting place of Michelangelo, Rossini, Galileo, and Machiavelli.

In the evening we walked over the Arno River to the San Miniato al Monte basilica. This basilica has the most amazing views of the city and a great history.  San Miniato was built where there was a shrine for St. Miniato who was an Armenian prince that became a hermit and was denounced as a Christian for it.  He was brought before the emperor and was beheaded.  The legend says that he then picked up his head and walked across the Arno to the location of the church and died

The church has an adjoining monastery and the monks chant mass every night.  We felt relaxed as we sat in the church and listened to the chanting.

One night in Florence we walked over the famous Ponte Vechio to go to dinner.  The dinner was my hands down favorite dinner in Italy.  We started out with cheese and honey.  Then we had pear ravioli, asparagus crepes with ricotta, and a divine beef stew that melted in our mouths.