Europe: The Excursions: Lucca

The first excursion I went on during the conference was the the walled city of Lucca. This was a little city with twisty windy roads between buildings It was cute and quaint. The day was hot and the streets were fairly clear, I think any locals were taking a siesta. 

We were traveling with a selfie stick so had many opportunities to take pictures of buildings from odd angles. (These are my friends and labmates Choo and JP)

 As one would expect there were many churches in the tiny Italian town. One of them had this beautiful mosaic on it. The gold was very beautiful in the midday sun.

 The most impressive building we encountered was this church to St Martin. Please note the very cool Renaissance facade and pillars.

Also recall that St Martin is famous for cutting his coat in half and giving half of it to a cold beggar. This is why we celebrate his feast day with candle lit parades and roast goose.

   

 The oddest building we encountered was this one. It has a tower with a tree growing out of it. Yep.  

Finally, The most important claim to fame for Lucca, besides the walls, is that Puccini did something here. Not really sure if he lived here, was born here or died here. Also this may or may not be his statue.