“The Wanderer’s Guide to Lucca”

Ciao Readers! And happy Monday after Spring Break! We have finally made it to Italy….

The title of this post reflects both its focus, as well as the book from which I got most of the substantive information.  As you may recall, back when we lived in Florence (was that real?!), we took a day trip here and had a thoroughly lovely time.  Now I have 10 days in which to really explore this place…

Lucca is mainly known for two things – primarily, its wall; secondly, Puccini.  Apparently there have been 3 sets of walls built around Lucca, dating back to Roman times;  the current wall, which completely circles the town, was built from 1550 to 1650, using much of the town’s resources (human and economic) for 100 years!   Either it was money and time well-spent or wasted, depending on your perspective – no one ever tried to bombard the town again (Pisa had in the past).  Of course, the walls did little to protect Lucca from “modern” warfare, and Napoleon took over in the early 1800’s and “gifted” the city to his sister, Elisa.  Now the wall basically serves one perfect function – THE town park where everyone bikes and jogs and partakes in the lovely Italian ritual known as the “Passeggiata” (ambling, chatting, and basically passing the time).  I spent my first two days here doing my own passeggiata – come along with me:

In addition to the lovely wall, the entire town has lots of cool old architecture, complete with more churches than you can count, and relaxing little bistros and shops now occupying the old historical buildings.  I am sure I will learn more and post some specifics, but for now, take a wander with me around Lucca (saving my stop at the truffle store to taste and shop for a future post about food), ending at the picturersque building that is my school (which I start tomorrow/today when this posts):

Thanks for joining me!

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