Spring Break 2014 Lucca and Volterra, Italy

On Tuesday morning, we left Cinque Terre by train at 9am, picked up our car in La Spezia, and set out for Lucca, Italy.  Lucca came highly recommended by one of Chris' coworkers, so we thought we would stop in and see it for a few hours.  Lucca is a walled city, and once we arrived it was easy to see that the place to spend your time was actually on the wall.  We opted to rent bikes to see the city since we didn't have a lot of time.

The kids were loving the biking option.

Riding by the palace.

We decided to eat an outdoor cafe with a view of this church.  

But, in about 20 minutes time….the sky started to look like this and the wind was crazy!  Time to move inside.

And before we knew it, it was raining and hailing.  The workers at the restaurant were taking pictures of the hail.  They had never seen it before.  I explained to them that it was hailing because we were in town.  That is just our luck!

Continuing our bike ride after the rain.

It's hard to tell, but this square is actually round.  It would have been nice to spend more time here.

We went to return the bikes around 1:00.  We were really behind schedule from waiting out the rain.  And, when we got to the rental place, the owner was on lunch (of course he was.)  So, we had until 2:00 to do more riding until he returned.

We checked out the cathedral and did some riding through the town.

For my friend Michele with one "l".

We were happy the sun came out before the end of our bike ride (riding along the wall.)

Lucky shot!  Hahaha!

We got the bikes returned and set out for Volterra.  It took us about an hour and a half to get there through the winding roads of Tuscany.

The gorgeous scenery as we made our way up to Volterra.

I was just a little bit excited!

The sign on the elevator at our hotel.  Ummm….I hope we don't have a storm!

Our nice big room.

We decided to take an evening walk around the town and look for a place to have dinner. 

In the square of the city, we thought we found the main building that was used in New Moon.  More on that later…..

I loved the arches throughout the city.  I thought the town was stunning and not just because of the Twilight movies!

The views over the wall were gorgeous!

Breathtaking!

The town square as the sun was setting.

Under the Tuscan sun(set)….

More on Volterra in the next post, and then we are off to Siena.  The fun continues!

Until next time,
Wendy

Spring Break 2014 Pisa and Cinque Terre

Spring Break in Europe is the BEST!  Two glorious weeks off of school.  We didn't waste anytime setting out for our holiday.  Friday night, we had a late flight out of Charleroi at 10pm and arrived in Pisa, Italy at midnight.  We had a room at the Luckyhouse B&B.  Nice name. This was the first time I've experienced the communal bathroom and survived.  We were out the door Saturday morning by 9am to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa.  

You could sign the wall and leave nice messages for Luca the owner.  Lucinda and Donna from the Philippines would get along great.  Neither of them get the use of the word homely.  Right Lu? Hahaha! ;)

Our room at the Luckyhouse!  This is a very typical room for us these days.  Simple...because all you do is sleep there.

Off to the Leaning Tower of Pisa!

The obligatory…knocking down the tower shot.  Or punching it in Thomas's case.

It was actually much more impressive than I thought it would be.  

Of course we had to climb to the top.  For the bargain price of 72 euros, your family of four can do the same thing.  And, it gets you into the cathedral as well.  Ha!  What a bargain!  Geesh!!!

This Zara shirt finally came in handy!

I love the shadow of the tower on the cathedral.

The cathedral

The Baptistry

This was just short of a crisis.  This is not her kicking leg…and Thomas was too short to help her balance…and blah blah blah blah!

Just push the tower over, okay?!

Holding it up with one hand!  No pic of Chris.  He said it was dumb….He's probably right.

Family selfie!

Seems a little early in the trip for this kind of pouting Thomas….

The first of MANY gelato stops.

My favorite pic because you can actually see the lean.

 We were finished with Pisa in less than two hours.  We hopped in the car and headed to Cinque Terre. We had heard so many good things about this area and couldn't wait to see it for ourselves.  We parked in La Spezia and took the train into Cinque Terre.  Rick Steeves recommends you do not drive in.  Good call Rick.

First stop was lunch.  This is what it looks like when you eat anchovies for the first time.  I don't think she liked them.

The pesto was a hit as was the sunny table outside.

Hanging laundry is everywhere.  I guess it's okay to hang your undergarments out too.

All they wanted to do was play on these rocks.  They are so easy to please.

This is Vernazza…our home base for three nights.  Our hotel is the red one in the middle.  We are on the top floor where the dormers are located.  Talk about a beautiful view!

And, here's the view!

Playing on the beach.

And, they found some amazing rocks!

Soaking up the sun!

Time for a hike because that is what you do here.  I love how casual it is. Everyone is dressed comfortably with tennis shoes or hiking boots.  It's a nice change from heels in Brussels.

Amazing views!

Oh thank God!

What a great place for a pit stop.

While sitting here, Chris said, "This is one of those moments."  One of those moments? "When I am so happy we said yes to this assignment."  I wholeheartedly agree!

Anything you can do I can do better!

Ready for dinner!

Good night Cinque Terre.  Looking forward to tomorrow!

 It was the perfect first day.  More Cinque Terre to come!

Until next time,

Wendy