Raining, training, and cycling (in order of magnitude); Tuscany part 1

We arrived to the walled city of Lucca on a rainy day. Despite the rain we enjoyed exploring the city and its many narrow winding roads and piazza's. We took a half day trip to Pisa and walked through the crowded post card scenes for an hour or so (it wasn't raining!) Surreal as it was, an hour was about all it took for us to have our fill, suffice it to say that there are millions and millions of digital photos of folks "holding up" the leaning tower.
We departed under grey, wet skies and rode to the train station, and then trained to Florence. Although we knew it was coming, we failed to recognize the impact Easter holiday would have on lodging and had to scramble a bit; we ended up at a cool hostel in an old villa a short bus ride from town. Florence was big and crowded and cool and pretty. Museums and art and lots of amazing old sculptures. Susan thinks I am not paying them or their creators due respect, but Michelangelo's David was awesome, and some of the grotesque sculptures were pretty striking as well. We also perused lots of beautiful paintings.
when it was time to leave we were psyched for a clear day of riding as we headed south into the Chianti region.