Planes, trains and automobiles (or in this case, trains, bikes, buses and segways)

In the last couple days we’ve continued to see the sights of Tuscany, while inadvertently testing out as many modes of transportation as possible.

Yesterday we hopped a train to Pisa to see the ever-famous leaning tower. I know plenty of guidebooks that will tell you it’s not worth the trip just to see this one sight, but I heartily disagree. This is my second time visiting it, and as before, I was struck by how dramatic the white tower (as well as the church and baptistery) looks against the blue sky, and how simply novel its sharp tilt is.

Upon the recommendation of our hotel owners, after going to Pisa we headed north to the cute walled town of Lucca. Our plans to ride the train there fell through when we couldn’t find a cab to take us to the station, but as luck would have it we found a bus line to Lucca instead. At the bus stop we met Diane and Gene, a friendly couple from northern California who proved to be a wealth of information as far as the bus and train schedules were concerned. Before long we were making plans to join them for lunch in Lucca, where they have spent a couple months a year for the last seven years.

After lunch we rented bikes (thankfully much more comfortable than the ones in Rome) and rode around the town on top of the wall that surrounds the city. The views of the town were lovely, and at one point we found ourselves joining a crowd watching a rooftop fire being extinguished.

Today we set out for a tour of the sights of Florence. We had debated whether my mom could handle a three-hour walking tour, what with her ankle still recovering, when we stumbled on what seemed like a clever solution: A tour company that specializes in Segway tours. Segways are a sort of electric scooter that you stand on, which meant we could zip around town without all the walking.

While the Segways were amusing and attention-grabbing (virtually everyone we passed was curious about them), they didn’t provide quite the relief we’d hoped for. We found our knees, ankles and feet just as sore (if not more) at the end of the tour than if we’d walked, since you tend to be a bit tense while learning the nuances of operating a Segway. It was also tough to get good photos, and the tour guide wasn’t up to par with the ones I’ve had on walking tours in Florence. Nonetheless, we had fun and I’ll definitely add that to the list of unusual and unexpected experiences I’ve had on this trip.

While on the tour, we saw most of the expected sights (visit http://babas.typepad.com/photos/my_gap_year_4/ for more photos), but my two favorite unexpected moments were spotting a man in lavender pants (I thought Italy was supposed to be a fashion capitol?), and finding out that Nero (or at least his statue) is as much of a hunk from the back as from the front. Now that’s culture.

Comments

[Mary]

What about scooters? Can you rent scooters to get you around town? The segways look fun though. I saw a woman that was crippled and that is her main mode of transportation.

[John Kosta]

I would love to contact the Ca couple who have spent time in Lucca. Planning a trip there in July and could use their advice.
Thanks.