The Town of Lucca

Some people might think us odd, and rightly so, but as we continue to go from bigger cities to smaller ones, we continue to enjoy ourselves even more. Lucca is a perfect example of this.

We had gone from Florence to Sienna, and finally to Lucca. The population dropped at each stop as the charm increased. Perhaps we like the almost empty enoteca’s or the tranquil streets, or maybe it’s simply the slower pace that permeates throughout these tiny Italian cities, that make us love them so?

To arrive at this little gem, we took a one 90 minute train ride that cost only 12 Euro’s, even though nobody ever asked us for a ticket, which we discovered was commonplace in Italy. We pondered how often people rode for free? The one annoying part of the ride was the gypsies that constantly begged for money ….I’m absolutely sure that they didn’t pay for a ticket!

Upon arriving, we found our room on the outskirts of the city’s wall. Lucca is a small town surrounded by an enormous wall that protected the city during medieval times, but is now one of the main tourist attractions. In fact, the two and a half mile wall was our favorite part of the whole stop. There’s a large walking and biking (and even horse and buggy accessible) path on top that provides amazing views of both the city and the surrounding landscape. At periodic points along the path there are spacious parks, quaint picnic tables, and ancient ruins. Over the course of two days, we looped the scenic route over three times. After living in Vegas for so long, it was refreshing to finally see the fall season again! The colors of the leaves were utterly amazing.

We spent the rest of our time strolling through the old city and the narrow streets, stopping at small restaurants and wine bars. It was a beautiful city that we were grateful to have visited.

The only potential problem in our stay happened one evening when we both got hungry later at night. I ventured out from our room in search of a salad for my bride and absolutely anything for me. What I quickly learned was that almost everything was either closed or only for “eat-in.” After a few blocks and multiple inquiries, I finally found a spot that let me order take-out. However, they didn’t have plastic silverware, which was going to be a problem based on what I ordered. So, when I got back to the hotel, I decided to “pry” open the breakfast area and “borrow” some utensils for the evening……my wife was both delighted and impressed with my modern day hunting skills. I was the personification of Captain Caveman!

Lucca was without a doubt a great stop on our journey. We picked up a car this morning and headed to the heart of Tuscany……which turned out to be quite the adventure in and of itself….but that’s for our next blog.

Stay tuned……