6 Lucca, Italy

To Patrick it seemed that every other word out of Katrina's mouth was 'charming' during our 24 hour stay in Lucca. But it is--so charming, with its ancient city wall encircling a labryinth of winding little streets. Even the garbage and pizza delivery trucks are miniature to fit and the postman uses a mail bike. It's a town where travellers come to see nothing in particular, rather to simply experience Lucca.
Our home for the night, La Magnolia B&B, was no exception to the culture of charm. Buzzing in from the street, we expected to open the front door to find a lobby of some sort. But instead we encountered an airy, open courtyard with flints of light sneaking in through the trees from the sun above. Our room on the second floor peered out over the courtyard and a restaurant next door, and the room's decor seemed to not only share but accentuate the atmosphere of the town and surroundings below. Our hosts at the B&B, Laura and her brother, Andrea, were very helpful in getting us oriented to Lucca and on our way to some delectable dining.

Per Laura's recommendation, we had our first meal at Gigi in the Piazza del Carmine. The pasta was so good that it made even Patrick stop to savor every bite, and the 4 Euro half liter carafe of house wine (straight from the barrel we suspect) was the best we've had so far. Afterwards, we allowed our stomaches a brief respite while wandering the streets and pedestrian path atop the city wall. Before long we stopped for gelato that was so good Patrick voted to break our three to five "M" scale to give it a "Mmmmmm".

We spent the rest of the afternoon strolling the city wall, taking a nap, and working up an appetite for dinner at Andrea's recommendation, Vasco. Though not quite as delicious as Gigi, we happily stuffed ourselves and were about to call it a night when we heard ampliphied voices descending from atop the city wall. Looking up we could make out a large group of people sitting at tables and our path of deduction was as follows: guests sitting for dinner, toasts on a microphone...must be a wedding! Our curiosity piqued, we went up to check it out and found a scene far from a nuptual reception. Over 200 Luccans were intently participating in a tournament of Burraco, which appeared to be some sort of variation of Canasta. Patrick's competitive streak reared its ugly head, but before he could drag Katrina to a table she dragged him back to La Magnolia. We fell asleep to the sound of joyful dining from the restaurant next door and a soothing Tuscan breeze blowing in our window.
More photos from Lucca here.

18 Pisa, Italy

Ever since we first booked our flight to Italy, we had been dreaming about the food. On our trip to Rome in 2007, we had set records in terms of how much delicious pasta we ate in a day, and we planned to continue that tradition this trip. Unfortunately our first Italian meal was the breakfast included with our stay at Pisa's Hotel Milano. The prepackaged croissants were inedible and the other "goodies" on offer might have well as been styrofoam.

Hotel Milano, with its muggy lobby, sparse rooms, and crusty old owner, was exactly what you might expect from a small town with a reknowned tourist attraction that singly drives the local economy. Our morning march with the other Tower seeking tourists seemed almost ritual and through the eyes of the locals we surely must have looked like map-toting zombies. The well-beaten route was lined with restaurants advertising "typical Tuscan food", and the hotels we passed along the way looked strikingly similar to the dilapidated Milano. The side streets, however, looked asleep. Undoubtedly there are parts of Pisa that are lovely, but in our 13 hour whirlwind tour (including seven hours of sleeping) we certainly did not see them.

But we did have just enough time to sleep, visit the Tower, and get out of town. And seeing the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person is pretty darn cool. It really is...leaning. In a very precarious way. We expected that at any minute, it might topple over on all the people pretending to hold it up for their photos.

The good news is that Pisa is an easy stop on a Tuscan tour. After the Tower, we hopped the next train to Lucca and were there within a half hour, eating that delicious pasta we had dreamed about for so long. But more on that to come...

Since our time in Pisa was so short and accordingly the post, we figured we'd throw in some tidbits from the road:

• We weighed in our packs at the airport in Barcelona...Patrick's came in at 7.3 kilos while Katrina's was 6.7
• Patrick for the first time ever enjoyed coffee this morning
• Shower safety is a big concern in Italy as both showers we have used had S.O.S. pull strings
• The first new word we learn in any country we arrive in is "sale" as it is plastered on every storefront window
• We have yet to see a drop of rain in our first 8 days
• Patrick is becoming a tap water connoisseur...he claims that Spain and France's tasted too "cloudy" and "thick" while Italy's is much more agreeable to his gentle palate
• We can't believe we get to do this for another 178 days!