Oh, come on, give it back...

So, yesterday was officially the first day of backpacking in Europe.  Annalea met me at the farm and stayed the night on Friday, and then we took a train from Cecina (a town near the farm) to Pisa.  We also learned our first backpacking lesson firsthand soon after we arrived.  As we were sitting on a bench outside the train station, my iPod was stolen :(  It was really quite ridiculous of us.  We were such obvious targets, with our big packs and  looks of awe and amazement.  While we were totally absorbed in our map, someone stealthily snuck up behind us and took it without either of us noticing.  It was almost impressive.  We didn't even hear them behind us, or see anyone around us.  The rest of the day, we were kicking ourselves about how we could have prevented it.  But that's the trouble with hindsight, it's 20/20.  However, despite the misfortune of the situation and how silly and naive it made us feel, this little event did teach me some good lessons: 1.) To be very aware of everything that is going on around me when traveling.  2.) To keep valuable items hidden from public view.  3.) To remember not be materialistic--it's just an object, and its absence does not indicate the end of the world.

So, our first impression of Pisa was a bit tainted.  However, after a day of touring around, seeing the tower, posing cliché poses in front of it, taking many pictures of churches, galleries, and famous-looking statues, our time in Pisa turned out to be very enjoyable.  Plus the hostel where we stayed was very comfortable.

Today, we visited Lucca, a walled city about a half hour train ride from Pisa.  It was beautiful.  It was a beautiful sunny day, and the perfect temperature to be wandering the cobblestone streets of an old Italian city.  We saw some churches, an art display of some beautiful statues, many piazzas (plazas), climbed a tower and saw a lovely panoramic view of the city, ate gelato, and took hundreds of pictures.  After wandering around for the afternoon, we then took the train back to Pisa and are staying another night here.  Tomorrow we will head to Cinque Terre (five coastal towns about an hour train ride from here).  Well, we should probably go make some dinner, so I will sign off for now.  Arrivederci!