Walks to Remember . . . Lucca, Pisa, Cinque Terre & Verona

The Tuscan town of Lucca is the perfect place to take an afternoon stroll--whether atop its medieval wall which still surrounds the city or just around town.



And I had to take a picture of this sweet little man filling up his green glass water jug at a public fountain. I only wish I had known how to say in Italian “will you look at me and smile?” as he mounted his bike and rode off with his treasure in tow.



The next day we ventured out to Pisa and its Leaning Tower . . . good thing we had Bryant along so he could hold it up while I took a picture!





And later that day, we spent some time in the warmth of sand and sea at the American Beach in Tirrenia. Between paddle boating, canoeing, beach volleyball (which soon became beach soccer), shell collecting, sun bathing and relaxing, only a little more TIME could have made the afternoon more idyllic.

Here are Christian and Taylor setting off in the canoe . . .



Jacob and Bryant triumphantly displaying their battle trophy . . .



And the Allred, Clark and Hibbard kids at the end of the day:



We knew that the next day we would be down near the water again as we hiked along the famed Cinque Terre (five beautiful coastal towns just northwest of La Spezia). The highlight was being witness to our very own cliff divers -- Bryant, Christian, Taylor, Brent, Jessica, Heidi, Hailey and Dallin . . . love that clear Mediterranean water!

The cliff . . .



Here are Lissie & Erin in their sun hats (if you look closely, you can see the Cinque Terre in the background)



Our last stop in Italy was Verona. We spent an afternoon there as we journeyed from Italy back to Germany. We were impressed with the centuries old coliseum (still in use for operas, concerts and plays), marble sidewalks, and the fabled Capulet home (we couldn’t miss seeing Giuliette’s balcony). In the end, we decided that a couple of hours was just not enough . . . so fair Verona is on our “must see again” list. Ryan Air must fly close to there, right?





Here is what Bryant, Christian and Lissie think about that . . .