Our first stop of the day was Lucca. We had not managed to get there on our last Tuscany trip 7 years ago, so were looking forward to seeing it.

Lucca is a walled city and we had to walk quite a long way to a gate  (possibly because we walked the wrong way round).



Inside the walls, we were met by our guide, Marco who took us around the narrow streets. Our first stop was the site of the ancient Roman arena of which only the structure remains.





Then we wove in and out of the narrow streets



passing the music school and a statue of its founder and paid our respects to Puccini who was born here.


Finally, we reached the main square and cathedral





Then it was time to move on to Pisa and lunch. Pat was hoping to climb the leaning tower in Pisa, repeating a climb 7 years ago, but it was fully booked.

We had a guided tour of the Cathedral, Baptestry and cemetery building with perfect weather for photos. Below, the cemetery building, cathedral and tower and then the Baptestry.




As always, Pat enjoys zooming into the details on the buildings.



We started with a tour of the Baptestry and a demonstration of the acoustics the singer would sing several notes one after the other so that we could hear the length of the sound and the combination of the notes.




Pat was able to climb up to the gallery for views down, which compensated for missing the tower climb.




Then it was on to the Cathedral where, unlike many others, we could walk around, but our guide could not give the usual commentary. She had, however, briefed us beforehand.





Finally, it was on to the cemetery building which includes memorials. The statue is Fibonacci (he of the sequence).



So then it was time for the final photos, including the leaning tower and fountain.




- Pat and John on tour