We had travelled north to Tuscany and I arrived in Lucca knowing nothing about it. I was hopeful because of one YouTube video describing Lucca as “Tuscany’s Hidden Gem”. It had not made a good impression when we arrived in the rain the previous evening. But. it proved to be a real gem.
Lucca is an old medieval/renaissance city. It’s historic town is entirely enclosed within a 4.2K wall. They have made the wall into a beautiful walking/biking trail and park. I have attached some photos. On the 21st Marley and Brandon rented bicycles and rode the wall and explored. Payton loved the biking. I walked the wall that day. On the 22nd, our second day in Lucca, we walked outside the walls and rented bikes for all of us. We had planned on taking a path down the river and picnicking. Part of the ride was successful but we couldn’t find the river trail and got tangled up in some busy one-way streets. So,we went back, rode the wall and picknicked there. It was a great morning.
The town is very pretty, lots of greenery, interesting buildings and very clean. A noticeable contrast to Rome. The streets were fun to walk with lots of shops and eateries.
This is a bit of a generalization but the people seem to be better dressed. Even the old men (those less than 5 years younger than me) seem to be more fashionably aware. Any blue jeans are thin and accompanied by designer shoes and a coordinated jacket or sweater. Ditto for the women – old and young.
There are lots of clothing stores with great looking clothes. I am convinced that I would look great if I lived here , I lost: 40 pounds, 6 inches off the waist, 25 years AND then found an extra $5,000.00. Maybe in my dreams! Speaking of dreams, I came up with a surefire peace-keeping solution for Gaza last night but couldn’t remember it in the morning .
We were really impressed by Lucca and would have stayed a couple of days longer but we were unab!e to re-book our Air B & B.
