Sun  May 4 - Fiesole, Piazelle Michaelangelo

Marian, Harry & I left around noon to go to Fiesole.  Walked to San Marcos plaza and took the #7 bus.  It was a little tricky figuring out where the bus stop was but in fact it's just one place where they drop off and pick up.  Nice bus ride about 20 minutes through outer areas of town and up through hills, very green, lovely.  

At the top, the bus stops at Fiesole, a town that was originally settled by the Etruscans who were independent until conquered by the Romans in 293 BC (yes BC - this place is old).  There are some ruins and a museum but we didn't go in.  We had a little lunch at the restaurant near the bus stop, then walked up to a view point for a spectacular view of Florence not well captured by any photos we took but you can see some here: Photos of Fiesole

On the way back down the hill we noticed several of these tile plaques on the buildings that represent the view from that spot.  Very cool.










Then took the bus back down to the city and walked home.  

Children in the Rose Garden

Around 5:00, with Toby too, we walked across river and to the east heading for the Piazalle Michaelangelo, a high point with a nice view of the city.  

View from Piazalle Michaelangelo

We hiked up through a lovely rose garden, lots of people enjoying the Sunday afternoon.  

Then more steps up to the piazza itself and a stupendous view, somewhat spoiled by the throngs of people, everyone taking photos of course (including us, she says sheepishly).  

Then we walked down the stairs and over to the Santo Cristo area where we had dinner at Ristorante Ricchi.   Ate outside on the patio.  I had scampi and gamborini - kind of a surprise when the plate was set in front of me....either the scampi or the gamborini turned out to be something like lobster but smaller and with the shell and all the parts.  Messy but tasty.  Others had food they liked a lot.

Then home to get ready for leaving tomorrow morning.  We have to check out by 10:00. The plan is to take our bags to the train station and store them there while we go to Museo Orsanmichele, and get some lunch.  Then we take a train to Lucca in the mid-afternooon.

Monday May 5 - Orsanmichele Museum, Train to Lucca

Dropped off our suitcases at the train station and walked over to the Orsanmichele Museum.  We were in a bit of a hurry and "forgot" to check out the main floor but went right upstairs where we saw the original sculptures that used to be displayed all around the outside wall of the building.  Then up another floor for great 360-degree views of the city.

This building (the Orsanmichele Museum) was one that Lise pointed out that first day when we were walking around Florence.  Mounted all around the outside walls are sculptures commissioned by various guilds.  Apparently this was accomplished over a long period of time (150 years?), and the last guild to finish was the lawyers who had to be threatened to finish.  (Not sure what that says about lawyers...).  

The sculptures are by different sculptors in different styles.  One of them (of St. George, by Donatello for the weapons guild) is notable because Michaelangelo took inspiration from it when he created his David - and you can see that the face is very similar.









 

Duomo from terrace restaurant

For lunch we went to La Rinascente, the department store on Piazza Repubblica, and this time, since the weather is nice, we got to sit outside on the terrace at the top with a fantastic view of the Duomo - so close you can practically touch it!  Good salads: caprese (me and Toby) and tuna nicoise (Marian and Harry).

Back to train station, picked up our bags, but MISSED the train we had planned to catch by about 20 seconds, doors closing as we ran after it.  The next one wasn't for an hour but it worked out ok, we just sat and relaxed until it came.  The 1.5 hour ride to Lucca was very pleasant, through lovely countryside, very green, farms, vineyards, towns - everyone has a garden! 

Arrived in Lucca, got a map at the tourist information center (so nice that they have this service for travellers).  Headed for our apartment on Viale Giovanni Pacini 3, about .7 mile but it seemed longer as we were tired and dragging our heavy suitcases over gravel sidewalks and dodging traffic everywhere.  Finally found it and met Mrs. Sonia our host, a very busy lady - she said she manages 40 properties!   We're in a great location, just outside the wall, very close to the Elisa gate (east side of the city).

Our apartment is a nicely converted attic but because the roof slants on every side it's hard for some of us to stand up in some parts.  Much bumping of heads ensued over the next few days.  Poor Harry was especially unlucky.  We've dubbed this apartment our "hobbit house."    Otherwise it's very comfortable.  We'll be here 5 nights. Mrs. Sonia gave us some info about the area - grocery store, pizza restaurant, where to rent bikes etc.  

Dinner:  We walked around the block to the pizza place she had recommended (Pizzeria Le Mura, Viale C. Castracani, 154) and it was fabulous.  Friendly neighborhood vibe.  Had delicious pizza and salads, in interesting and unusual combinations.  Our waiter was a young man who was very sweet and actually seemed to enjoy waiting on us foreigners.  After our meal he even brought us some lemoncello.  Yum yum very lemony - never tasted anything quite like it. 

Tues May 6 - Exploring Lucca, Puccini

Marian and I walked over to the supermarket (CONAD).  On the way we stopped at a little "bar".  "Bar" has a different meaning here - it's for coffee and pastries.  We had a caffe latte and split a chocolate croissant (pane al cioccolato?).  There was a nice signora behind the counter and several men standing at the counter drinking their expresso before going to work.  Nice relaxed friendly vibe.

Lucca aerial view

Walked through the wall into the main part of Lucca town.  Our apartment is in a great location.  Just outside the eastern gate (Elise).  Moseyed around, bought tickets for the Puccini concert tonight.

Had lunch on San Michele Plaza at Tournadot - delicious salads - my fave so far - would like to come back here.  

Marian, Harry & I rented bikes (3 euros) and rode around the wall, i.e., on top of the wall which is like a park.  It was fantastic.  Beautiful warm day.  Trees overhanging the pathways, people walking and biking and just sitting around.  Great views on either side - inside the wall, and outside the wall.  Took about an hour to go all the way around at a leisurely pace.

Met up with Toby.  On the way home we stopped at a little wine shop on the main drag, Dolce Vita-I Borghi, Via Santa Croce, 79.  The proprietor Riccardo was very nice and offered suggestions of inexpensive but good wine.  Encouraged us to come back tomorrow and let us know how we liked it (which we did).

The evening's event was a Puccini concert at San Giovanni church at 7:15.  Lucca is the birthplace of Puccini (1858) and they honor him every evening with a concert, a different program every night.  They call it a permanent festival, "Puccini E La Sua Lucca."  Tonight's program was Le Donne Di Puccini (the woman of Puccini, i.e., arias from the female characters of Puccini's operas).  There were two women singing, with a pianist accompanying them.  All were very talented, voices filling the church without any amplification.  And the pianist was amazing.

Dinner:  We had made reservations for 8:30(!) (we are starting to eat later, like everyone else around here) at Canuleia Trattoria which Marian had read about online.  It's a comfy restaurant, relatively new, run by a husband (the chef) and wife (everything else).  Rack of lamb (Toby), scallops (Marian), sea bass (me).  Excellent.

Weather still clear and should be good again tomorrow.  I hope we have another chance for a bike ride - that was really fun.  Also it felt good to be moving around but not walking.

Wed May 7 - Botanical Gardens, Roman Forum, Marian Cooks Dinner

Marian got up early (as usual) and went out to get some vegies.   She wants to cook dinner for us tonight.  Oh boy. 

But first we had places to go and things to see. 

Went to the Botanical Gardens which were beautiful.  Very green and lots of trees.  Saw 2 sequoia trees! Lovely rhodadendrons.  

Went under the wall which was dark and kind of scary. 

Old Roman Forum

Next we walked up on the wall and around to the North gate and back inside the wall to the old Roman Forum, so named because it used to be a round marketplace, now it's a circular plaza with buildings all around. 



It was nice there, lots of people to watch and warm sunshine so we stopped for a snack at one of the several restaurants in the plaza.  Bruchetta with tomato and cheese, and pears with gorgonzola cheese and walnuts.  Cold beer.  We were tired and hungry so this really hit the spot!  

The name of the restaurant was Perbacco.  There's a restaurant with the same name in SF!  We asked them if it was any relation (family name?) but no.  The meaning of Perbacco is literally "for Bacchus" (god of wine) - it's an exclamation that means "Oh My Gosh!" or something like that.

Old Gate on Via Santa Croce

Via Santa Croce

 Went looking for a few items we needed for dinner, especially we needed some fresh fish.  No idea where to go.  Did not see any markets that might sell it.  As we were walking along the main drag, Via Santa Croce, we passed by Riccardo's wine shop where we'd been yesterday.  I thought, why not?  He was friendly maybe he can help us.  So I asked, "Dove comprar pesche per la cucina?" (loosely, where can we buy fish for the kitchen?) and he actually understood what I meant!   His friend said there was a fish market outside the wall and as he told us the directions we realized we had walked by it, closed, the first night we were here.  So that was really great -- that we knew where to go.  

At the fish market, the woman proprietor did not speak a word of English.  But somehow we managed to communicate that we wanted some fish to cook for dinner for the four of us.  She picked up a big flat fish and gestured that she could cut 4 fillets from it.  Perfect.   She was so nice!  She even gave us cooking instructions too but we couldn't really understand what she said except to only cook it for 5 minutes.  

The foregoing little story is a great example of how warm and wonderful the Italian people are.  Those lovely interactions helped us get what we needed and just made the whole endeavor so much more pleasant.



Back home and Marian started cooking.  And what a meal we had!  Artichokes with yoghurt/mustard dipping sauce.  Then the fish, sauteed with tomatoes and fresh vegies (onion, peppers, tomato, green beans, asparagus), plus some good fresh bread and wine of course.  Delicious.  We sat around the table, there in our little apartment, enjoyed the meal, and chatted about this and that.   Very relaxed.   

It was late (we're eating like the Italians :)) but we decided to go out and get gelato at the place nearby which is supposedly has the best gelato in Lucca.  Le Bonta, V. Castracani, 269.   It's across the street from the La Mura pizza place we liked so much that first night.  


Well it is far more than a gelato place -- it is a fabulous bakery with the most amazing cakes and little bite-sized pies in all kinds of flavors and combinations, beautifully decorated.  We spent a lot of time looking at everything and then we each got one to try.  There was a line of people outside even though it was 11:30pm. 

Finally home to bed.  By the way it's raining a little tonight but tomorrow is supposed to be sunny and in the 70's.

Thurs May 8 - Laundry Adventures, Palazzo Pfanner, Torre Guinigi

Time to do some laundry.  We found a self-service lavanderia (laundromat) which was an adventure but successful.  

 

Went back to the San Michele plaza (the one with the big angel on top of the church) and had lunch again at Turnadot, sitting outside enjoying the nice weather and watching the world go by.

Next we walked to the Palazzo Pfanner to see the beautiful gardens and palazzo built in 1660 by a wealthy silk merchant. 

The gardens are quite wonderful, with a big fountain and many sculptures.    More pix here on their website.    

In the 1920's it was the home of Dr. Pietro Pfanner, physician (he treated Puccini) and also the mayor of Lucca.  Some of his surgical instruments are on display - very interesting and made me glad I live now rather than then, although our doctor Toby said some of them look very much like what is used today.    

Interesting factoid:  These gardens have been featured in films - for example "A Portrait of a Lady" (view trailer here where you can see some shots of the gardens).  I haven't seen the movie, and it got mixed reviews, but I just added it to my netflix list.

Then Marian, Harry and I went to climb up the 230 steps to the top of Torre Guinigi, the famous tower that has oak trees growing at the top.  The climb wasn't bad at all and was well worth it because of the gorgeous 360 degree views of the city from the top.   View more photos on this website.

This tower was added (as an emblem of prestige) to one of the homes owned by the Guinigi family, wealthy merchants who lived in Lucca beginning in the 13th century.  It was one of over 200 towers in the city at the time.  Now it's one of the very few left.

towers of Lucca

On the walls as we climbed up to the top, there was a series of paintings depicting battles and other events presumably involving the Guinigi family.  Wish my Italian was good enough to translate so I could understand what they were about.  I have searched for more info about these but so far haven't found anything although other bloggers have noted them and wanted to know more (I'll have to write to the Lucca tourist bureau and suggest it.:) ).

On the way home for a break before dinner, we stopped at a ceramics shop we'd passed many times before.  It's on Via Santa Croce in the piazza near the Santa Maria Forisportam Church.  I didn't get the name of the place nor a photo, but the artist/proprietor was very nice and there were lovely plates, bowls and other things made by him there in Lucca.  I got a couple of pieces and so did Marian & Harry (maybe Toby too - can't remember).  

Stopped at Riccardo's wine shop to get another recommendation.  Then home to relax. 

Went out about 8:30 for dinner (eating late again).  Decided to try a place we had walked by several times as it is on the main drag, in the plaza near the ceramics store.   La Trattoria Nonna Clara, "La Casa del Baccala", Via S. Croce 71.  Nice homey atmosphere.  Lots of fish choices.  Huge portions.  I had Luchese style baccala which is codfish with tomato sauce and vegies on top of polenta. 

Fri May 9 - San Martino Cathedral, Bike Ride

Marian, Harry & I went to the San Martino cathedral.  Lucca's "Duomo".  Gorgeous inside and out.


Interesting fact:  The building is not symmetrical because one side had to accommodate the tower which was already there.

San Martino - detail

Met up with Toby (she had gone to the modern art museum) and had some lunch at Perbacco in the Roman Forum where we'd been the other day.  Sat outside, lovely weather.

Stopped at a leather shop Toby had discovered earlier.  Wonderful purses and belts and iPhone cases (Harry and Toby each bought one).  Friendly proprietor, family owned, spoke English.  Officina Della Pelle
 

Then we split up and Marian, Harry & I went for another bike ride on the wall - once around plus a bit equals an hour.  Lots of people to dodge this time of day  :)  I love that wall -- maybe my favorite thing about Lucca.  

Dinner:  Went back to Pizzeria Le Mura where we'd had dinner the first night we were in Lucca.  Pizzas and salads and beer and wine and I am so full!  The same nice waiter was there and he took over from another waitress because he wanted our table.  What a sweetie.  Brought us lemoncello after dinner, same as last time.