Ciao a tutti!
This past weekend was one of those very relaxing and enjoyable weekends. On Saturday, some of us went to Lucca for the night, and then the rest of my roommates and a lot of the other students from my program met up in Viareggio on Sunday for the last day of Carnevale! In comparison to Florence, Lucca is about an hour away, and Viareggio is another half hour past that. So it definitely wasn't too far.
To start off, Saturday morning Molly, Allyssa, Allie and I were off to Lucca. We were pretty much able to see the entire town in one day. Lucca is famous for being the city surrounded by a wall. Once we got off the train, we had to go through a couple tunnels and a lot of stairs to get to the top of the wall, and then climb back down to get into the city. The wall was supposedly built back in the 16th and 17th centuries to protect the town against cannons during wartime, but since Lucca was never apart of any sort of war-like combat, the wall still remains intact and in great condition. Now it is used as park for the citizens of Lucca, and is a great way to see beyond the city and the surrounding "suburbs" and beautiful mountains in the distance.
 |
| Piazza San Michele |
 |
| He was playing the accordian :) |
 |
| San Michele Cathedral |
 |
| Inside the cathedral |
 |
| Here comes our bike tour! |
 |
| OOOHHHH yeaaa haha |
 |
| Here we were sitting at the edge of the wall...so cool! |
 |
| Haha ooooh the places these shoes have been... |
 |
| Climbing the clock tower! |
 |
| Piazza dell'Anfiteatro |
 |
| Haha so typical. |
 |
| AHHHH they're so cute!!!!!! |
 |
| Watching the sunset on the wall! |
 |
| Dinner time! |
 |
| Tordelli lucchesi al ragu......basically ravioli with meat sauce |
 |
| Piazza dell'Anfiteatro at night |
On that Sunday, we left Lucca to get to Viareggio for Carnevale! Since it was the last day, we figured we had to go. for 15 euro you had full access to the carnevale and surrounding restaurants, the beach, and the unbelievable parade! It was a perfect day of 65 degrees and mostly clear skies. And the parade we saw, it BLOWS DOORS against any parade I've seen in the states. Enjoy the pics :)
 |
| Little smushies!!! Everyone dressed up in some sort of colorful and fun outfit. So fun! |
 |
| Go big or go home haha |
 |
| There's Ghandi! |
 |
| The Beatles riding a bulldog? Sure! |
 |
| We guessed this float was poking fun at Silvio Berlusconi's recent resignation as the Prime Minister of Italy |
 |
| Aaaand the sun pokes his head out!! Yay! |
 |
| Beeaaaccchh, oh how I've missed you |
 |
| Mountains in the distance :) |
 |
| We also thought that this was poking fun at Francesco Schettino, the Italian cruise ship captain that jumped off board once he had hit rocky shore earlier this year. |
 |
| awwwwww |
