Exploring Pisa and Lucca 7/7

Ahhh! What a beautiful day in northern Italy. This morning we woke up at 9 and ate some breakfast that we had bought at the supermarket the day before. Once we were ready we made the hike down the hill to the car. Then we drove to Pisa to see the leaning tower and look around. Once we got to Pisa we found a parking lot that said 60 cent parking. When we parked and got out of the car there were a few guys that came up and gave us tickets then demanded 4€ per car. We obliged because we didn't know. After we had left we found out we were actually swindled into paying much more than we should have. Oh well, it wasn't much money but the fact that we were tricked was kind of scary. Anyways, I got to see my first one of the 7 wonders of the world today! The leaning tower was awesome-it looked like it would fall over at any second! The thing that I thought was cool was the church and babtista that were adjacent to the tower. In all of the famous pictures these building aren't seen. We went into the baptista place where the ceiling was perfect for echos. A lady sang some notes and they bounced off of the ceiling and came back as a different pitch. It sounded like an entire choir was singing when it was just one lady! We continued to look at shops around the plaza and decided to have lunch. I had penne with a spicy tomato sauce. It was very refreshing and delicious. After lunch we found a gelato shop that had peach mango flavor! It was really good:) After one last glace at the tower we left to go to Lucca-a walled city about an hour away from Pisa. It was very hot today so we strolled the streets and tried to keep in the shade. Lucca was a a very nice town. The only downside was that most of the shops were closed because it was Sunday afternoon. However, we looked in a few that were open including leather shops, ones that sold olive oil and vinegar, gelato shops, and small street vendors. Once we had seen most of Lucca we headed back to Metato. Along the way we found another grocery store to pick up some snacks for tonight since we didn't want to go to a restaurant for dinner. Before going to our villa, Mom, Dad, Brynn, and I stopped back at the place we ate at yesterday to talk to our very helpful waitress Angela. We wanted to ask her about the best beach to go to tomorrow. Instead, we stayed for about 3/4 of an hour having homegrown fruit, bread, and drinks that she brought us (did I mention the people in Italy are super nice?!!) Along with the meal/snack that we had she reserved us a shade tent on a private beach for us to relax at tomorrow! We were very impressed with Angela's generosity and helpfulness. When we got back to the villa and up the hill I jumped right in the pool. It felt good to cool off. We have just been hanging out the rest of the evening playing a card game and watching the news. I have a feeling tomorrow will be really fun!:)

The Leaning Tower of Pisa

Brynn and I in front of the tower(yes we have the same sunglasses on because I accidentally left mine at a rest stop. Thank goodness that Brynn brought two pairs!)

The church in the center of Lucca-very old but beautiful