bye bye lucca

i loved lucca. we biked the ramparts. ate fabulous food every night. had a hot shower every day.

there was a soccer stadium *stadio football* just outside the 100 foot thick city walls. we could hear the fans cheering, chanting and singing the team song. sure beats any team spirit we have back in the u.s.

oh, the food. we found this great restaurant with the most charismatic owner ever. he actually mock scolded you if you did not finish your meal! he looked a little like a mad scientist. i call him alderto. i have no idea what his real name is. he just looks like and alberto. i named the bartender eddie.

we climbed a 10 story tower that overlooked the whole town and the tuscan country side. it was beautiful, but a little rickety. we also saw several weddings proceeding to the 1,000 year old church there. the facade had byzantine mosaics. it is hard to believe that the people who live there are used to ancient works of art.

the graffitti in the town was a little disconcerting, though. the whole country is full of graffitti, but i never felt very threatened, which i owe to the fact that i do not read italian and therefore do not know all the good swear words. however, i do recognize a swastica when i see it. and i can also pick out a hammer and sicle, too. i also know what pisa merde means. here is the foreign language lesson of the day. CAUTION do not read this part to small children. merde means shit.

the birds here are annoying. they sound like giant squeeky toys the size of jason. and the music here is hysterical. it is all american. we just heard its raining men.

we loved lucca. but we had to move on.