Italy

Last week, I had the privilege of traveling to Italy to spend a week working in the Navionics office.  It is something I have been looking forward to for awhile.  A few months ago, I got to go to India to see the production side of Navionics up close.  Now I'd get the chance to meet and work with the people at their headquarters in Massarosa, Italy.   I left on Saturday, and met up with a co-worker at the airport in Florence.  The flights were fine, but I was nervous about my first trip to Europe and all of the work we had ahead of us...

I flew to Atlanta, then Amsterdam, and then to Florence.  The flight to Florence was short, and it went over the Alps!  When we approached Florence, the Tuscan countryside was beautiful!  You could see vineyards, country estates, and hills all around.

We rented a car and drove about 50mi to Lucca.  Angela, my co-worker drove because she had been there before.

The original part of Lucca is walled city.  We were staying inside the walls at a hotel.  There are 4 or 5 entrances. This is one, but they are look similar.

After we got checked in, we went out to find a place for dinner.  This was right down the street from our hotel.  I never ended up eating there, but maybe next time?

Wine with a side of olives

Lucca was beautiful!  The streets are cobblestone and very narrow.  They allow cars, but you have to have a special permit (and a tiny car), so we parked outside the gates at an overnight parking lot.  Every morning we had about a 10min walk to the car, but it was nice.  Made you feel like a real European! :)

This was my hotel.  It had recently been remodeled.

The view from breakfast every morning

First day at the office and we got a tour.  This is one of the original GPS units they made.  Getting to the office wasn't bad.  It was about a 20min drive over a low mountain pass.  I did my share of the driving and it wasn't bad.  It was actually kind of fun.  They are zippy drivers, but there are still basic rules of the road, so I feel like I fit in fine.

The museum...  We met many people the first day, and learned to use the espresso machine.

At night all of the historic places (which is almost everywhere) are lit up.

Entering through the gates...

There are a few churches in Lucca.  This is one of the biggest.

Tuesday night, one of the guys from the Navionics office was nice enough to take us to Carnevele de Viareggio.  IT WAS INSANE!  Tons and tons of  party people and GIGANTIC FLOATS! 

I'd never seen anything like this in my life...

The detail on these things was incredible.  And they were HUGE. Check out how much bigger they are than the people around them.

Even Donald Trump made an appearance.  Actually he made two...

After getting our minds blown, we crossed the walking bridge, and found a local seafood restaurant.

Definitely needed some espresso the next morning.  In Italy they don't drink coffee like we do.  They drink espresso.  They drink it after meals a lot too.  I've got a new appreciation for it.

Wednesday night Paolo took us to Pisa to see the leaning tower and go out to eat.

The grounds were beautiful.  You don't normally think about there being a church there too.

Paolo and I had a good laugh about this because it is such a touristy thing to do...even though he suggested it.

Downtown Pisa

Seafood.  We got a bunch of different seafood appetizers.  These were anchovies.

For lunch on Thursday, we went with Ellie and Mattia, down to Viareggio near the beach.  This was tuna chunks on top of rice.  T'was yummy!

After lunch we walked out along the jetty to see the beach.  The promenade parallel to the beach is where Carnevale was, but it was too dark then to see the beach.

They build yachts in Viareggio.  Those big buildings in the background are the factories.

Thursday night, Ellie and Mattia took us to Pietrasanta for more amazing sightseeing, drinks, and pizza. 

Pietrasanta is another walled city

Our hosts... 
I didn't get any pictures of the pizza but it was LEGIT.  We had 3 pizzas and a bottle of wine.  It was a lot of fun.

This was sitting outside the restaurant after lunch on Friday.  WOW!

Friday was the last day in the office.  It had been a great week. We worked really hard and learned a lot.  We also got to meet some really great people.  This was the view from the office.  The temperature, by the way, was in the mid-60's most days.  It got down into the 40's at night.  It felt like spring.

I was leaving Saturday morning and my hotel was in Florence near the airport.  Instead of making me take a car or cab 50mi, our friends were nice enough to drive me to Florence so we could all go out on Friday night.  So after work on Friday, we drove to Florence and went downtown for the evening.  Started off sampling some beers and a fun little bar.

We walked a few blocks to get dinner.  It was like a big food court, but with "good" restaurants and wine.  We'd all had a great week, so I sprung for a Chianina steak (local Tuscan beef) that we could all share.  It was 1kg (2.2lbs)!!!  

SO YUMMY

After dinner (it was almost midnight by now) we walked around Florence.

Santa Maria del Fiore.  This was the most jaw-dropping, awe-inspiring thing I saw the whole trip.  At night all lit up, no one around because it was so late.  It was so peaceful and it was gigantic.  Pictures don't do it justice.  It was just mesmerizing.  I almost spent the night there just to keep looking at it.

This was the end of our night in Florence.  I got back to the hotel about 2AM and had to get up at 4AM to catch my flight.  The trip back was pretty uneventful.  I didn't sleep much so I was really tired when I got home.  I made it home about 6PM in time to celebrate Owen's Birthday with him!

Later,

Ryan