February 28, 2023 - Lucca

Another great day. This morning, we were out the door by 8:30. It was a bit chillier than normal with only 9 degrees and a slight wind. We arrived at the train station with plenty of time to get a coffee to drink on the train while we ate the breakfast sandwich that we had brought from home.

The view on the way to Lucca was nice with mountains in the background. We could see some snow on some peaks. We went by miles of nurseries. There were way too many pots for just a local area. We figure that they must export out. There were pots of every size imaginable with trees and plants of many varieties and sizes. It went on for a long time. Most homes have a tiny backyard but most of them have a garden in that tiny backyard. It was interesting to look at while we rode. It looks like they never throw anything away. The sides of the gardens are full of boards, planks, pipes, chairs, tables, bricks, barrels, jugs, and everything imaginable.

We walked all over Lucca, both inside the walls and around the city on the trails built on top of the walls. We had decided not to walk all of it but there were caches to get so we did the whole circle. It was a nice day. One of the caches took us to the top of Torre Guinigi. It is a tower built in the 13th century. There are 28 flights of stairs to climb or 220 steps. It was all worth it once we reached the top. There were trees planted on the top and a beautiful panoramic view of the city as well as the mountains further on. Another cache took us under the walls. There were large tunnels some of which had these red and white poles strung all over. We thought they were doing some sort of renovation. It turns out it was an art piece. We would never had guessed.

Walkways on top of the walls.

Snow in the mountains.

Private Garden. 

We had lunch at a local restaurant that Wendy and André had recommended when we talked to them last night. A few years ago, they had stayed in Lucca for 6 weeks. We both had a plate of chicken and rabbit and shared a side of oven cooked veggies.

André had said that there were over 100 churches in Lucca. We saw quite a few with most of them having free entry. One even had the skeleton of Saint Davino on the altar. Pope Alessandro III sanctified Davino around 1159.

After taking the train back to Florence, we stopped for bread to go with our supper. The one that we normally buy was still in the oven, so we asked for a piece of bread that was sold by the pound. The piece was about 6’’ x 6’’. It is not a thick bread, about 1 inch thick. We had no idea how much it would cost. It came to a whooping 10 cents.