Lucca

On J's day off, we made a quick trip to Milan to get the rest of our stuff, so now we are "officially" moved!  We then decided to take a trip to Lucca, which is just a train ride away.  We arrived in the early evening and spent a few hours before supper walking around the little historical center of Lucca.  We spent the next day also walking and exploring, this was a great city to just relax in.  We didn't worry about having to stand in line, or be sure to see a particular piece of art - we simply enjoyed Lucca for Lucca.

The historical center of Lucca is completely surrounded by a wall, which was built during war to protect the city.  They city was never attacked and the wall is completely intact.  Now it is used mostly for recreation.  There is a really nice path on the top of the wall, it is 4 km around the wall.  This is me on the wall - the right side is the historical center and the left side is the city where most people live now.  

About 7,000 people live inside the wall now, driving (and especially parking) are problems that force most people to reside out of the center.  But apparently within the walls, there are 70 churches!  Crazy!  This is me in front of the Cathedral in the historical center.  

This waterway flows through the center.

I am not really sure what it is with me and climbing towers.  I hate it, yet I keep doing it!!  It must be because the views are so beautiful!  This is a picture of the the stairs in this tower, I am going down but you can still get an idea of what I am putting myself through for a good picture!

And good pictures we got...  Beautiful Lucca.

J and I rented bikes and we biked on the wall.  It was really, really nice.  Spring has arrived and it is so beautiful.  The blossoms are starting and the sun is warm.  The only problem is that my allergies arrived too...  I think I sneezed 200 times on this bike ride, J stopped "blessing me" after about my 5th one...

Even with all the sneezes, the bike ride was still quite nice and relaxing.

On our way to the train station we had to "escape" out the walls.  We literally walked in a secret passage through and under the wall, it was cool.  This is a picture of the outer part of the wall, it gives you a good idea of what it looks like.  J decided to take a little nap in the grass, see him?