Tag: Lucca

Lucca

When we first discovered Lucca in April ’24, one of the things we fell in love with were the wide city walls that encircle the city. They are a wide, tree lined boulevard that encircle the city, about 5km in circumference and are perfect for a stroll, a cycle or a run. So after a breakfast of – yes, you’ve guessed it! – coffee and pastries, we set of to walk all around the town.

It was very pretty, some trees had lost all their leaves, some were still a delicious autumn yellow, and some were falling from the branches, giving the feel of a warm autumn day rather than the mid-December day it was.

And some of the leaves were massive!

As we walked, the sun came out, the coats came off, and we found a bench to sit and soak up the sun and the ambience in this tranquil, beautiful space.

Having circumnavigated the city, it was time to have some lunch and we went to a little restaurant that we had discovered on our first visit. The food was squisito – Italy does do food so much better than anywhere else. We shared two dishes, home made ravioli, and a pork focaccia sandwich, before completing perfection with a tiramisu pudding.

Having decided that we hadn’t walked enough steps by now, after lunch we headed up the bell tower of the church near our apartment. 3 euros each, and 270 steps up …

to the top of the bell tower

It was worth it, the views were magnificent

and in this one, you can see where we were staying (the red arrow marks the spot)

And then it was time for afternoon cakes!

It has been a holiday of chilling: eating delicious food, in beautiful surroundings, just watching the world go by. Holidaying at this time of year, we probably have spent more in cafes on coffee and cake than in, say the summer, as what else do you do? (Its a hard life!!) But to counteract that, not many people want to/can go on holiday in early to mid December so flights and accommodation have been cheap – we’ve spent about £300 in total for the flights and accommodation for our five day trip (and that’s in total, not each)

And as night fell, we set out to once again enjoy the festive lights of Lucca. The streets were much quieter than they had been on Monday night, but the lights no less beautiful.

Festive Lucca

After the wonderfully warm dry summer, it has been a long, grey, and very wet autumn and early winter in the UK so it was a very pleasant surprise when we stepped of the plane to be greeted with blue skies and warm Pisan sun. We didn’t linger long in Pisa, instead taking the PisaMova from the airport to the train station before getting a train for the 30 minute journey to Lucca, our base for the next few days.

The sun continued to shine on us as we made our way to our apartment in the historic old town, dropping our bags off, and heading out to explore the town as the light began to fade. By luck more than judgement, we had arrived on a local bank holiday, the Christmas lights having been first turned on on Saturday, and Monday evening was a local Christmas celebration, and it seemed like everyone in the whole town and surrounds had crammed into the town to eat, drink, shop and be merry.

Whilst enjoying our first Italian coffee, cakes and focaccia, we heard the beating of a drum and the clear deep boom of a tuba, we followed the sound and found the local brass band belting out some Christmas classics.

After listening to them in the square, they set off, still playing, through the streets and so we followed them.

We continued to wander the streets, exploring this pretty Italian town, enjoying the lights and festivities.

As the evening wore on, the crowds began to thin, and by the time we had had something to eat the main square that had been packed full earlier in the evening had returned to a scene of calm serenity and beauty, and we headed home, happy after the first day of our latest Italian escapade.