Spring Fling in Italy IV: Lucca

Jo and the girls at "Piazza Anfiteatro", built on the site of an original Roman ampitheatre

Well, just as I expected, I woke up feeling under the weather, with no energy to go out and explore. We had a pretty light schedule planned for these first few days in Tuscany, so Jo decided to soldier on and take the girls out while I stayed behind to tend to my cold.

First thing was to get some supplies for the villa. Today is Easter Monday in Italy so many of the shops in town were closed. Jo found a local italian deli just outside of town and brought back some rotisserie chicken, fish, marinated vegetables and potatoes for lunch on the terrace. The girls were having a great time enjoying the outdoor terrace and grounds. Staying in a villa is the perfect choice when traveling with children.

After lunch, Jo took the girls into the historic center of Lucca. A particularly stunning feature of the town are the ancient ramparts that ring the old city which were built in the 16th century for defense. The girls enjoyed taking a stroll around the city atop these walls.

One of the gates along the historic wall

View of the city outside of ramparts from atop medieval wall

And although Lucca is not a real popular tourist destination, there are many things here that are worth stopping by to see. In fact, the girls had a great time exploring this pretty town (even though Daddy was not around!)

The Duomo di San Martino houses the famous relic "Volto Santo", which is said to be the true face of Christ, carved by Nicodemus -- who was present at the crucifixion

Piazza di San Martino (The girls stopped by this stand to buy a snack of candied almonds...)

Saint Michael's Church

After discovering a merry-go-round and stopping to ride it (three times!), the girls explored the est of the town with mommy.

One of the things that Jo loves to do is to try unique or regional specialties that she reads about in travel websites or books. One such “must-try” item was a local sweet-bread called Buccellato. After locating the small store that sells it in Lucca, the girls bought some samples to try. While usually these travel tips result in the discovery of some very special treats, unfortunately, this was not the case with Buccellato. This bread, made with raisins and anise, left a strange aftertaste in your palette. In addition, it wasn’t all that tasty looking…

Finally finding Taddeucci bakery (located behind Saint Michael's). DS was the one who found it.

On the way back to the villa, the girls stopped at Regine, a local pizzeria to pick up some pizza, lasagna and some Italian vegetable dishes. Dinner, again, was outside on the terrace, where we enjoyed a nice meal and some beautiful weather.

I turned in early to try and shake off this cold. I want to make sure that I can join the girls for tomorrow’s outing to Pisa!