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We were in Florence in December and although cold, enjoyed the Xmas lights and decorations everywhere. I love Europe before Xmas... it exhudes a fun atmosphere both whimsical and otherwordly .
The day we chose to do a day trip to Pisa and Lucca was when the skies were blue and the air was fresh but frightfully cold... brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
After our yummy breakfast in the amazing Pendini hotel, we walked 10 minutes to the train station and bought tickets to Pisa.
The train trip was only an hour to Pisa. Once we arrived in Pisa we walked to the famous Piazza dei Miracoli (The Square of Miracles), a 30 minute walk from the station. This Piazza consists of gorgeous vast green lawns and beautiful archictecture of the Duomo, the Baptistery, the historical Graveyard and the Famous Leaning Tower of Pisa. You can take a bus to the Piazza but we chose to walk and enjoy the city and the sunny skies... We discovered some really cool places along the way. We also lucked out with a fantastic Escher exhibition en route.
Keith Haring mural - San Antonio Church Pisa - how amazing is that??
As I said, we were there in December and to our surprise, the piazza was packed with tourists (probably because it was the weekend and Italians were also "sightseeing").
*** So my first tip is: probably best to visit this attraction on a weekday.
Unfortunately I did not do my homework. I assumed that because it was December, it would not be a problem and I could buy tickets and go up the tower immediately. I was WRONG! All fairly immediate time slots were full and we did not feel like waiting hours and hours to go up the tower. So we strolled around the grounds, enjoyed the piazza, sat on the grass savoring the sunshine and took lots of pictures. I bought tickets for the baptistery and church but I was fairly disappointed (it's history didn't really interest me I guess).
*** My second tip is: If you want to go up the Leaning Tower of Pisa, book in advance
All in all, we spent around 3 hours in Pisa,as we visited the Escher exhibition and walked around pretty Pisa town. Near the train station was a lovely arts & crafts xmas market and lots of pretty shops, cafes and restaurants.
We walked back to the train station and bought tickets to our second destination Lucca, a 30 minute train trip.
From the train station of Lucca, it is a quick walk to the old city. Lucca was packed with tourists... again I was surprised.... the Italians also like sightseeing in their own country (and rightly so). The old city is delightful. Full of narrow cobbled stone lanes, lined with boutique shops, trendy cafes and restaurants. We walked around and got totally lost in the maze of lanes. We only spent about two hours here and by the end of the day were totally exhausted. It would have been nice to have done a walk or bike ride around the city walls of Lucca but it got dark early and we were physically exhausted and challenged just to walk back to the train station...
The train back to Florence was an easy one and half hour ride. It gave us time to rest our tired legs so that we would have some energy left for walking to a nice restaurant for dinner back in Florence.
It really was a magical day... the smaller towns of Italy are really beautiful...
Enjoy!
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