Lucca

Avid Traveller | Lindsay | Jun 15, 2011

Upon leaving the Cinque Terre, we headed (back up along the crazy “roads” with the stunning scenary) to Lucca which is in the Tuscany region of Italy. But not before having a hilarious 5 minute stand off with a driver who refused to back up for the bus. Eventually, the bus won (pictured).

We had scheduled one day in Lucca – but for one day, we sure accomplished a fair amount. Upon checking into a beautiful hotel in the early afernoon we met a our guide Anna for a 2 hour tour of the town. Lucca is a fascinating place as it has three layers – the centre of the town is of Roman origin, the next ring of the town is Medieval and the third ring (which includes a towering wall of stone) is Renaissance. All three periods are reflected in the architecture of the town.

Anna was an amazing guide. She was really informative and never missed an opportunity to take a jab at neighbouring rival town, Pisa. There are too many interesting buildings in Lucca to mention, but I will mention a couple of my favourites.

Piazza Anfiteatro: This is a Roman colosseum which was transformed into a shopping district with apartments above (pictured).

Piazza Napoleone: Lucca was a fiercely independent city state throughout most of its history, until joining Italian unfication in the 19th century. There was a point though where the city was conquered by Napoleon, and his sister Elisa, who was the Duchess of Tuscany, lived in Lucca. She resided in a grand palace in the centre of town, and decided she didn’t like the view from the eastern side of the palace. So she had a centuries-old church torn down, created a piazza, and had trees planted around the perimeter. Must be nice to wield that kind of power. However, don’t fret: the people of Lucca still had at least 20 other churches and chapels they could attend.

Later in the evening, we attended our final group dinner at Buca San Antonio. We feasted on salmon carpaccio, ricotta cheese pie, pork in truffle sauce, goat and of course more delicious pasta. The next morning we headed back to Canada and since that time I trust everyone has been dealing with a bit of jet lag and attempting to detox from cheese, bread and wine Before signing off, I just want to thank everyone who was involved in this tour: Our travel agent Bonnie, super leader Terry Needham who showed me the ropes, and of course all of our guests who really made the trip. Everyone was very friendly, warm and made me feel welcome at all times! It was a really special group of people!