Pisa

We went on the coach today. Seat rotation was in place but all you needed to do was find a seat with your name on it; clever stuff.
We went to a little, walled town called Lucca which is really nice. Lots of little alley ways with cobbled streets and loads of cafes with outside tables and lots of little gift and nick nack shops. All the shops had wooden Pinocchio figures and there were even a couple of workshops where they make them. It turns out that the man who wrote the Pinocchio story lived nearby. It was a beautiful sunny morning and we just wandered round. Had elevenses coffee and cake at one cafe and lunch at another, although here my experiments with items on menus came a cropper! I ordered a panini type sandwich but it was called something slightly different such as panioni and the filing I chose was grilled vegetables. When it came it was in fact an omelette, folded up and placed in the bread and it was tied up with string!
There were some pigeons hanging around looking for scraps and I was tempted but I actually ate it all. That's another one that I won't be ordering again though! Then we drove to Pisa and ran the gauntlet of Africans trying to sell watches and umbrellas. We'd bought a timed ticket to go up the tower, on the internet last week and amazingly only 4 of us out of 50 on the trip, went up! That's what happens when you go on holiday with old people! Mum was very nervous about the climb and, half way up it seemed like she may expire before reaching the summit but, after a couple of rest stops she got 90% of the way up. She drew the line at the last bit because it was a very tight spiral staircase which she hates. So it was left to me to claim the summit on behalf of England and Saint George but fear not fellow countrymen, I did it with style and panache.
Returned to same restaurant as last night as I'd liked their food and wanted a pizza today. We sat inside tonight as a thunderstorm was forecast and they sat us at a table next to a couple from our holiday, from Wetherby. We had a really good time talking to them and the food was good again. I had a red beer (that's what it called it on the menu!) and it was gorgeous. It was on draft and I think it was called Horst or possibly Forst. I'll be looking for that again! Oh and I bought a bottle opener today in the hope of not damaging any more hotel furniture, opening bottles. So then find myself with no bottle of beer to drink tonight! 😕