Days 15 & 16: LUCCA and PISA

Sunday:
A hectic morning.  My trip from Manarola to Lucca was in 3 stages:  La Spezia, Viareggio and Lucca.  Each had a rather tight 10-15 minute changeover.  Well, the train out of Manarola was 20 minutes late, so I landed in La Spezia well after scheduled departure time of next train.  Only to see it come racing in also late, but two platforms across.  Italian stations are torture if you have heavy baggage.  You have to manage down 2 flights of steps to the connecting passgae, then up 2 flights to the required platform.  Tough going at best of times: herculean if trying to run.  Anyway I managed to jump into a carriage as guard whistled it off, and then pushed my bag all the way through to coach 1 where I had my reserved seat.  At Viareggio I was able to do things more comfortably, as we had made up time and I had 10 minutes.  The hotel is right next to the station, so an easy walk there and book in.  Had to wait 10 minutes while maid finished setting the room up.

Have picked up a sore throat, so first visit was to the local faramcia for a gargle.  Then I headed into the old city.   Lucca is quite compact, a totally walled town that dates back to antiquity.  The walls were built very wide so as to withstand "modern" cannon etc.. back then:  today a cycle path runs along their top, and they have nice gardens all the way around.

Now what is it with Italians and their churches?  I stand in the Piazza San Martino, looking at the great cathedral here.  To my right is a small church (now an art gallery); to my left, the great church of S.Giovanni, and front/left another church attached to the diocesan museum.  They call Lucca the City of 100 Churches:  in fact it has 26.  The Cathedral of S.Martino is a rebuild on site of much earlier church built in 600s: this one dates from 1170.  Inside is a "caged" chapel holding the painted crucifix with a live Christ on it (the Holy Face) -- tradition says painted by Nicodemus with the help of angels! €3 entry.

Around the corner is San Giovanni, where tonight a concert in memory of Puccini who was born here is being held.  Fairly plain inside, but underneath is what amazes.  The entire current church (dating from 1500s) is supported by steel girders, and underneath has been completely excavated to examine ruins of the earlier church from post Roman times.  You can walk all around on steel walkways, the they identify various elements of the old church such as the ambo, apse, pavements, choir stalls etc.  This archeological work must be costing someone a fortune.  Entry €4.

I liked the church of S.Michele .. no entry fee, and they have a wonderful collection of paintings dating 14th and 15th century along the side walls. I had a look at Puccini's birthplace, but didn't bother with the museum.  The main shopping streets have some very nice (and expensive looking) stores, most of which were open on a Sunday.  I reached the walls at opposite side from my hotel near the Massoni Palace, home in the 1800s to one of the rich and powerful families of the area.  Quite a few pallaza scattered through the town. On my way back I dropped into the San Salvatore church which is home to the Confraternita di Misericrodia which runs the local ambulance service and a clinic.  A bit further on is site of the old roman arena: nothing left now, except that a circle of apartments and shops has been built on the site of the old arena walls, and the centre is a large market square.

The hotel owner recommended a small restaurant just up the street if I could get a table.  I was lucky, and had a great meal for a very reasonable price.  Have booked to return tomorrow night! Fresh cold has caught me, so re-visted the faramacia to get some cold tablets.  Hopefully it will go quickly.

Monday:
No rush today, so had a sleep in, then breakfast, and was on the 0915 regionale to Pisa.  My plan was a simple one: to walk from the station in the south, through the old city zigzag fashion, to reach the Field of Miracles at the north-western end -- and bus from there back to Lucca.  All went as planned.

Old Pisa is a much more spacious town than Lucca.  The streets are wider which lets one appreciate much better the buildings that line them.  Also the buildings here show much more character and individuality than in Lucca (where they all tend to be boxes crowded in on each other).  It was  a nice change to have more than churches to look at -- although Pisa has its share too: 25 of them.  A good part of the old city walls remain, though nowhere as in good shape as Lucca.  The various towers and gates do stand out as landmarks.  The old fortress in the south-east of the town is mostly collapsed, but inside are beautiful gardens and paths to stroll, and covered areas with tables and chairs to picnic or use one's laptop.  Garibaldi and Victor Emmanuel both have Piazzas, as seems to be mandatory in every little town.  The River Arno wanders through the town, and is quite picturesque with its bridges.

I stopped for lunch with the students in the middle of the University of Pisa -- a circle of interesting buildings that surround a piazza.  Not too far on from there one turns a corner, and there is the first glimpse of the Field of Miracles : The leaning tower shining bright white in the sunlight.  There are 5 buildings:  the Duomo, the Bpatistery, the Tower, the Museum and the Camposanto Monumentale.  As usual, one needs to buy tickets for whatever one wants to see (though the ticket to the Cathedral is free).  As in Milan, the military conduct a security check of all bags as one enters the Duomo.  What strikes immediately is how all the walls of the Cathedral are covered with huge paintings from floor to gallery by various masters of the past. It dates from the 11th century.  Soaring is not  a bad word to describe its interior:  there is a gallery I could see people walking around half way up the walls.  (I wasn't inclined to find any steps.)  The tower is still leaning (I climbed it in 1975 before they started to straighten it, so no need today) ; and people are still trying to take pictures of themselves holding it up.   Talking of which, the latest "must have" gadget is the selfie pole or pod.  It is a tube of about 12 inches, that extends out to over a metre; and you screw small camera or your iphone onto the end, set the self-timer, and poke it out in front of you to take your selfie.  In crowded spaces they are a menace, because people suddenly poke one out right in front of you as you go to walk past.  Disconcerting. The Baptistery is a delightfully quiet and cool place, very little ornamentation, one can sit against the wall and just contemplate and rest.  I skipped the museum and the Camposanto which is a long building containing tombs of notables gathered from all over the district.

By 4pm I couldn't get interested enough to take one more photo of anything, so caught the next bus back to Lucca, did a quick walk through the old town back to the hotel.  My cold has freshened up and I am now coughing; so am hoping an early night will help mend that.

I should mention: both Lucca and Pisa extend way beyond the old city area into new suburbs - which I have not done anything to explore -- except that the bus back did have to navigate suburbs of both towns.  I confined my exploring to the old historical areas, which doesn't really do justice to Lucca and Pisa.  But that was what I did in Milan and Verona and Ravenna too -- so a tourist's look and see, rather than a serious visit.

Will visit Francesco's Cucina again at 7pm to taste some of his other culinary delights: then bed.

Photos as usual can be found here_.