It's Friday morning and Pisa is on the agenda. Like most Italian cities it's next to impossible to drive into, so taking the train from the outskirts of Lucca is the obvious choice. We arrive at the station and the timetable tells us the train's just left, so a hurried car trip to Lucca itself is in order. As we queue for tickets the train, which had been delayed 10 minutes so we could have caught it from the outskirts, pulls away to Pisa. Next one in an hour and a half. Bummer!
But it gives us an excellent opportunity to explore Lucca itself. It's a lovely old city, on the flat as we're close to the coast now, and a cyclist's paradise. Established by the Etruscans, developed by the Romans, and miraculously spared WW2 bombing, the historic centre has remained unchanged for centuries.
We circumnavigate the perimeter walls of the old town on foot.
Plenty of pedestrians, cyclists, even the odd horse and cart, and blissfully no motor vehicles.
We drop down into town on the northern side and discover the bike rental along with the information centre and a wifi cafe. The little cobbled streets twisting into the centre of town look interesting - we'll be back, but meanwhile we have an appointment with a tower.
Yes it really does have a lean of about five degrees, the consequence of building on relatively soft ground - Pisa's not far from the coast. If they'd built it on a slab base of twice the current diameter they wouldn't have had nearly the same problems, but nor would they have been able to fleece tourists €15 each to walk up the thing.
The view from the top is pretty special though - that's the cathedral and baptistery behind us.
As I peer over the edge I can't help thinking of Galileo, Pisa's favorite son, dropping his unequal masses off the edge to see which hits the ground first. I keep a tight hold of my sunglasses and camera. The sunbathing tourists below probably won't appreciate being part of a repeat experiment.
It's quite eerie walking around the circumference, and you definitely feel the uphill/downhill shift. I felt slightly nauseous when I did this 30 years ago - less so this time, but it's certainly disconcerting.
The baptistry is notable for its excellent acoustics. We're lucky to be there on the half hour when a guide gives us an operatic rendition.
When I was last here at the Duomo I'd made the mistake of wearing shorts, and a dour old man dressed in a black suit turned me away. This time I came prepared - shorts again but with zip-on legs.
Times have changed in 30 years - I'm not challenged, and stylish girls with taut bodies wearing skimpy figure-hugging tops and tight shorts accentuating a pert butt and long slender legs are let in too. Not that I take any notice of course - far too busy focusing on the religious artwork.
Back to Lucca for dinner and a look around.
Some of these towers certainly make you look twice.
Saturday and our last full day with the car. We decide to head up into the Garfagnana - a series of valleys north of Lucca.
On the way is the unusual Ponte della Maddelena. Originally built in the 14th century, road construction in the early 1900s forced the addition of another arch, destroying its symmetry.
How can you resist a display of cheeses, hams, salamis and olives like this? We load up with some bread as well and set off for a picnic lunch high in the hills.
I can think of worse places for lunch!
Unfortunately the GPS tries to guide us through the little town in the background on the way down. I start to get a bit worried when I'm reduced to about 50mm clearance on each wing mirror, and the next lane looks even narrower. A 13 point turn in a little clearing sees us beat a hasty retreat.
We'd heard about the magnificent Romanesque cathedral in the hilltop town of Barga, but what we didn't expect was a medieval re-enactment!
A local historical society has set up adjacent to the cathedral, showing off archery, sword fighting, medicinal herbs and surgical instruments, and tapestry.
A real treat to stumble upon.
Back to Emma's for our final night. We'll be sorry to leave the closest we've got to a villa in Tuscany. Our hostess Jessica has been very friendly and helpful, and it's almost been like staying as part of the family. Breakfasts are shared in her kitchen, and even our laundry's done free of charge. Must remember to write up a good reference on the travel website!
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