Lucca

This weekend we took our first weekend trip. I loaded up my backpack (yep, I have a big ole camping backpack to tote through Europe...I feel like such a world traveler) and hit the road. Our first stop was the sleepy town of Lucca. Originally, it was surrounded by a moat and had walls all around it, but the moat has long since dried up (or at least i never saw any water). It was so neat to see a little Italian town and be out of bustling Verona.

After a few hours of deciphering the Italian train system, we arrived in Lucca and found our hostel. It was a pretty big challenge because the streets are odd on one side and even on the other (like America) but the odd and even don't correspond. ie 37 is a cross from 2. We arrived to find a note that said call Fabio when we get there. We made the call and Fabio showed us to our rooms. One had 3 twins and the other a king and 2 twins and both had private bathrooms. I was really excited/nervous about my first experience with a hostel. Turns out, another American woman who was about to move to Lucca was staying in the third room. She was so nice and told us all the hot spots in Lucca.

The group tried to find a great local place for dinner, but it seemed like there were only shops. We finally came across a little cafe with a good menu and moderate prices and we invaded. Not many little Italians restuarants are ready to accomodate 10 loud Americans. As we ordered one person asked if the seafood was fresh. The waitress looked surprised and said, "No. Frozen." Way to be honest. As we were waiting for our food I joked, "I bet this won't take long. They are probably microwaving everything in the back." Well turns out Cameron had a view of the kitchen and they in fact were microwaving little bags of food and dumping it on plates. So much for the great local cuisine.

The next day we woke up and explored Lucca. It is not the biggest town so our exploring only lasted about 2 hours. We went to a really pretty church and discovered that some places like to display important church founders in clear coffins. Thats right...500 year old monk was laid out for the world to see. Needless to say I bolted from that room and went to get some fresh air. Despite the body, I really loved seeing the architecture and art in the churches and could even identify some of it thanks to Camarata's class in high school and the class I am currently taking.

After sight seeing we boarded on another train and headed to Siena...



The group in front of the hostel where the girls stayed.

This used to be a Roman arena but it has morphed to what you see. There are bricks on some of the buildings that are the Roman originals.

The room I stayed in at the hostel. Cameron and I got to share the king...yay for sharing beds and cuddling.

The entrance to Lucca.

The outside of the church with the body. The door to the left is where I bolted out of post sighting.

A carousel in the middle of a piazza. Maybe like the one at the galleria??