LOVING LUCCA

I spent a week in one of my favorite places in Italy with my friend Maggie from Sydney.  Maggie is renting an apartment in Lucca for two months and invited me to stay with her, so I happily accepted her invitation.  Lucca is one of those smaller Italian cities where the enjoyment comes from just being there.  It's probably known best for the wall that surrounds it, which winds around the old part of the city for 4 kilometers.

There's a broad walkway where people do just that, as well as bicycle and rollerblade, and there are park benches and picnic tables where you can enjoy relaxing or picnicking under the shade of the trees.

Maggie's apartment is outside the city walls, and it took us about 20 minutes to reach our entry point which was right near the Duomo on the other side of the wsll.

It was really hot in Lucca when I was there last week....92° to 95° every day....so we would go out to the market or shopping or just walking on the wall or around town in the morning and go back to the apartment by 1 or 2 in the afternoon and then go out again in the evening when it cooled down...just like the natives, except they all seemed to stay up later than we did.  I didn't take a lot of photos here, but here are some highlights.

This is the Bascilica of San Frediano.  Lucca has about 100 churches.

Here's what a lot of people comes to see....the Guinigi Tower where you can climb up 230 stairs and walk around the garden at the top.  

Here's a view of it from the wall.

We went shopping one day and I thought this display of tools and gears made of chocolate was picture worthy.

This is the aquaduct near Maggie's apartment.

Her apartment was one of eight in a renovated farm house...it stayed very cool on the ground floor and I was grateful for that.

Her street was very pleasant to walk.

We went to Pisa on the train and saw the famous Leaning Tower.

Pisa is a pretty city with lots of shopping opportunities, and the Arno runs through it.

Here's Maggie making some kind of statement about life, I think.

Maggie really likes to shop, and her enthusiasm is contagious.

We had a very relaxing week together...going to the local markets, shopping, enjoying two concerts, Puccini and Mozart, and eating delicious Italian food.  And I'm sure Maggie is going to enjoy Lucca (a relief to me since I recommended it to her) as well as exploring other cities and villages in the beautiful province of Tuscany.