Italy - Day 10

I am a bit sad to be leaving Lerici this morning. I am going to miss the beautiful view out our balcony. First thing this morning, Umberto, one of our local guides, gave a talk on the work of Italian scultors in preparation for our trip to Carrara. 

 Carrara is home to mountains of marble and the people who are in the business of creating with it. We first visited a factory where the marble is turned into beautiful sculptures. I was surprised to hear that the cutting of the marble is done at sawmills.

When one hears the term sawmill, you automatically think of lumber. The Carrara quarries have produced more marble than any other place on earth

As we toured the place, I was surprised to learn that they can use 'robots' for some of the carving, sanding and polishing as well. There were many beautiful pieces in there some destined for other countries.

After that visit, we boarded the coach and headed up the mountain. It was narrow and interesting, and a bit scary to see how the bus negotiated the hairpin turns. More than once, cars had to scramble out of our way or back up for a bit.

The quarry area is busy with large trucks and machinery working.

 With the help of an outdoor museum, Umberto explained the process, both past and present. After that, we visited the 2 gift shops there and I found a few relatively light-weight mementos.

 After going back down the hill, we got out and had a brief tour of Carrara. Most stores and businesses close for a few hours for dinner and a rest period. The city was quite dead - like my town on a Sunday afternoon.

Lunch was at a quiet little place and the food was delish as usual. We never know when it is over - the arrival of dessert is the best clue! After our meal we headed to Pisa, and many of us slept I'm sure.

We were on our own in Pisa. We were given bus tickets, a map and directions to Pisa's claim to fame. The Leaning Tower really does lean!

All along the walkway there were dozens and dozens of people posing as though they were pushing the tower straight. Of course I had to have that shot as well. 

I was hoping to go up to the top and was surprised that they weren't that busy. I had a 15 minute wait before my scheduled time. 

There are 145 steps to the top, which is nothing compared to the steps up to Corniglia in the Cinque Terre. There are several look out points and I stopped to take photos. I also stopped to catch my breath if the truth be known.

The view from the top is magnificent! You can go all around it and there are quite a few old bells. There are seven of them, one for each note of the musical major scale. 

 I was hoping they wouldn't ring because they probably would have deafened me. Apparently my friends saw me from down below, but I thought they had left the area so I didn't look for them. 

Many of the marble stairs are worn to a curve so I was careful going down as well as up since I was on my own and forgot to take a hotel card ICE (in case of emergency). 

 I wandered the grounds which consist of a large cathedral as well as another beautiful building called the Baptistry. 

I headed to where I hoped I could catch the bus and didn't have too long of a wait. At one point, I thought maybe I had gotten on the wrong bus when it turned down a bunch of side streets and didn't take the same route as getting there. Much to my relief, I reached the station and recognized the hotel so I got off. I strode in the front door just as people were going for supper. How's that for timing?!

Supper was very good and not too many courses for a nice change. I just may get to bed early tonight!

Italy - Day 9

Today was another unscheduled day for the most part, so most of us decided to visit the medieval town of Lucca, about 90 minutes from Lerici. The group leader arranged to hire a mini-bus to take us there instead of taking public transit like trains. 

Amy, Sue, Ray and I struck off on our own and stuck together for the day. After all the decisions I made yesterday, it was nice to just wander and 'chill'.

Lucca is surrounded by an old wall which is wide enough for walking and biking. People made good use of bicycles throughout the town and there were some really cool ones, almost as cool as mine!

We walked the wall for a bit then got off to explore. We had a map and Jane had highlighted a route and the must-sees along the way. There are many stunning buildings and quite a few churches. 

A particularly interesting area was a Roman amphitheater at one time. It was a large round area with yellow buildings all around. Some were now restaurants, others, stores, and others maybe living quarters? I'm not sure. 

We found a wonderful restaurant in the area and enjoyed, firstly a Diet Coke, and secondly, a deliciously fresh salad. It was a hot day and we were in the shade with a bit of a breeze blowing - heaven!

We meandered from sight to sight stopping to photograph, doorways, windows, dogs in bicycle baskets and everything that interested us.

I was surprised that some of the businesses we passed were very high-end shops selling clothing, shoes, eyewear, kitchenware and sweets. 

We walked in the shade where we could to get some relief from the heat. The streets were quite narrow, yet a certain amount of traffic was allowed to drive throughout the old town and they went rather fast I thought. 

One highlight was the large Duomo di San Martino Cathedral.

The outside of the building was magnificent. I wasn't sure my friends wanted to go in but Ray paid for all of us (3 Euros each) and I'm so glad we went in as the interior was truly beautiful!

There many different areas - gorgeous stained glass windows creating beautiful light on the floor, an incredible pipe organ, amazing ceilings, and a special tiled mural except it was on the floor, so that's not a mural now, is it.

It was a relaxing day wandering at an easy pace, and of course we had to have our mid-afternoon gelato. Gelatos, I am really going to miss you!

After that we made our way to the front gate, stopping at a wonderful little ceramic shop where we each bought a little something. 

Our driver arrived right at 4:30 and most of the ride back was uneventful except when she was cut off in traffic. I don't know what she was yelling at the other driver. It's probably a good thing we couldn't understand Italian, haha!

When we got back to Lerici it was time to pack up as we leave in the morning. It's been so nice staying in one spot for most of the trip and Lerici has been a wonderful, peaceful respite for the past 9 days. I am really going to miss the fabulous view out on our deck. 

Supper was at a different restaurant, next door to the one I ate at last night in the Plaza. The food was very good, but as usual, there were too many courses. Just when you think you are done, another huge platter comes along to tempt you. 

I'm so tired again. I have had no trouble getting to sleep on the whole trip.