23 August: Pisa, Lucca

It was nice to have a leisurely breakfast, after which we hit the road, around 9.00am. A very hot day, particularly standing in the sun. It's rather amazing to drive around the last corner and suddenly there is the structure that you've seen a thousand times in pictures but now it's there "in the flesh". Of course, we all took lots of pictures of both the tower and the university; we only had 1-1/4 hours to spend and the queues to get to the ticket office and then to get to the tower meant we couldn't even consider climbing the tower, a feat which would have to take at least half an hour. There were market stalls everywhere, of course, and some exhibitions, so we wandered in little groups or alone and then met up in our designated spot.

Just before we left, we were surprised to hear the tower bell toll 12 noon: that would have been quite an experience for those who were in the tower at the time, because the bell is huge and even from across the other side of the compound, it was very loud.

The drive to Lucca was fairly quick. A couple of the guys went into a museum and the rest of us wandered through the shops, meeting at 2.00 in one of the squares for lunch. It was really reasonable and good food. I had a pizza but of course I needed lots of help to finish it! Then Therese shouted me a ticket in to the Puccini museum, in the house where he was born: a very special treat which we thoroughly enjoyed, remembering how both our Dads had loved Puccini.