One of my daughters, Jamie, told Holly that she had not seen enough pictures of the walls of Lucca to really understand what they looked like. So being the great dad that I am, here is my best attempt to give you all a feel for them.
One thing to understand is that the total circumference of the wall is about 2 1/2 miles so without hovering over the city in a helicopter, you just can’t get a picture of the whole thing. To help with that I have included a map.
Not the walls but a sunset taken from our apartment. I couldn’t resist
The map showing the whole thing including the bastions and the green space outside of the wall. The red circle is where our apartment is located.
Siena is famous for several things, but two stand out for me.
First, it has to be one of the most beautiful medieval cities in the world. It is set in the hills of Tuscany and has much of its ancient architecture intact.
Secondly, it has one of the most famous horse races (and they claim the oldest) in the world. Twice a year since the 16th century, once in early July and again in the middle of August, ten of the old neighborhood organizations get together to hold a bareback horse race around the central square. We ended up there between the two events this year.
They haul in sand and dirt to make the course around the Piazza del Campo and make a pageant of one of the most dangerous events you will see. For the animal rights activists out there, this may not be your event. Here is a link to the July race this year complete with a nasty crash.
Our lunch did not compete for the next “Best Food” award, but it did come up as the most expensive lunch we have had since we arrived in Italy. That is what comes from dining in the middle of the race course.
Last week we took a day trip to Ravenna. It took over 3 hours by train each way, left at 6 am and got back at 9:30 pm. Like most of the cities we have visited, its history goes back to at least Etruscan times around 900 BC. Julius Caesar gathered his forces here before he famously crossed the Rubicon. It was chosen by Caesar Augustus to be his major naval port on the Adriatic Sea. It followed Milan as the imperial city of the Western Roman Empire and was its last capital when that part of the empire collapsed in 476. It was recaptured by the Byzantines who oversaw the construction of many of the most interesting sites in the city. It has been controlled by various empires for the last 1500 years.
Ever since I used them for research as a theater student in college, I have been fascinated by the magnificent mosaics that cover the walls and ceilings of the ancient architecture found in Ravenna. This was my first visit and there is nothing like standing in these ancient buildings and seeing these works of art in person.
There are 8 UNESCO World Heritage sites in this city. In one day we couldn’t visit them all, but we filled our day with some of the highlights.
Basilica of San Vitale
This relatively small building houses some of the most beautiful mosaics in the world and is a vital resource of anyone doing research on the mode of the era.
Others including the Basilica of Sant’Apollinare Nuovo
The new winner for the best dish we have had in Italy; mussels in Ravenna!
I know there are a lot serious things going on in the world right now. With the events in Istanbul (both at the airport recently and yesterday’s coup attempt), Nice, last week’s train wreck in southern Italy, Orlando, the Brexit fiasco, black men being shot so often by police, police being shot by snipers in Dallas and the new Trump/Pence ticket in the US (Are we trying to out stupid the UK?), it sometimes seems that the little pieces of fluff I put out here are kind of trivial. But then I second guess myself and think we need a little humor, maybe some insight, some beauty and some things that just make us smile. Hopefully this will make some of you smile.
We had just returned from one of our trips upriver and were settling in for the night when we heard distant drumming. It started getting closer and more insistent. What could we do but go investigate? Following the noise, we soon caught up to a procession with drummers, royalty and champions (who all happened to be carrying crossbows).
Well this looks like fun! They were getting ready for the annual Lucca Crossbow Tournament. I followed along and since stills just don’t tell the story, I took some video . My video skills need some fine tuning and later I found that my lens had a little piece of fluff that you can see at points, but I think you will get the feel.
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They were all heading to the piazza in front of the Duomo where the contest was to be held. Once they arrived there, we were treated to more drumming, music and flag waving.
It was not until the next night that the actual tournament got under way.
Setting the target. Are you kidding me? That whole building is in danger.
The shooting station.
Shooters at the ready. This next one is the shocker. Nearly every shooter hit that small target. It got so crowded some bounced off just because there was not much more room.
We didn’t last until the end so I am not sure who took home the tapestry, but it was a great event and we had so much fun. On the way home we encountered this under a street light and it just seemed fitting to end this post.
I do hope some of you got a smile out of this. Holly and I sure did.
It is hard to believe that we have already been in Lucca for two weeks and I have yet to post about it. I will do some catching up today and tomorrow. With this post I will not only post about our home for this month, Lucca, but also several of the side trips we have taken so far: Pisa, Cinque Terra and the two trips by train up the Serchio river to some of the mountains of Tuscany.
Lucca
When we drove into Lucca the first thing we saw of note was the most magnificent aqueduct either of us had ever seen. This was fantastic, who knew there was a Roman aqueduct in Lucca?
Acquedotto Nottolini
Well, as it turns out, there isn’t. We discovered this when we were preparing to take a walk to see it up close. The Acquedotto Nottolini was actually designed and built in the 19th century. Well, it was designed to resemble a Roman aqueduct and I doubt we were the first to make that mistake .
Lucca has ancient origins dating back to at least the Etruscan era. It was the site where Julius Caesar, Pompey and Crassus met to form the First Triumvirate in 56 BC. Its marvelous architecture includes many palazzi, churches and perhaps its most famous asset, the renaissance era outer walls.
The walls were never challenged with an attack and now provide one of the most unique walking/biking trails I have encountered. The path completely encircles the city and since it is on top of the wall, it is uninterrupted by cross traffic. It is a real treasure.
Here are some views of the inner city.
One of the many towers in town, love the trees on topView of the Piazza Anfiteatro from the tower. There is nothing left of the anfteatro but the oval foot print survives
The Duomo The fosso
Pisa
I don’t know how we could be less than an hour from Pisa and not go for one day. We did go and had a great time. Everyone has probably seen too many pictures of their most famous landmark so I will not add many, but I will say when we turned the corner and got our first glimpse, it was far more impressive to see it in person.
The first sighting
Got to love these trinkets
The river Arno flowing through Pisa
Cinque Terre
Again, this is one of the most famous tourist attractions in Italy and only a couple of hours by train from Lucca. It is five small towns nestled on steep slopes above the Ligurian Sea with hiking trails and trains running between them. It was a hot day when we went, the first leg of the trail was closed for maintenance and the whole place was a little over crowded for my taste. It is very beautiful nonetheless and we had a great lunch by the shore. There are so many pictures of this place out there, I will only add a couple more to the portfolio.
Up the Serchio
Although, Lucca sits on a coastal plain with an elevation under 100 feet, there is a train line that runs north into the mountains and within an hour you can feel as though you have traveled to the Alps. We have made two visits (it is very cheap) and found lovely scenery and food.
The designer supposedly sold his soul to the devil to get this Bridge to stand up.
The view from the bridge
One Last Note.
Since we have already settled the question of where we want to live for the next year, Lecce, it feels more like we are tourists here. We have not made nearly as many personal connections, but one that I cannot resist posting about was our local butcher. His Macelleria is only a few doors from our apartment. He and his wife have been very friendly and helpful. They leave for vacation today and will not be back until after we have left for Dublin. When we put that all together, they made a present of a bottle of wine. It was a wonderful gesture from wonderful people.
Hi Friends! Jim has been doing such a wonderful job maintaining this blog, but today is my turn!
This is a post about treasured visions becoming reality. The idea of moving to Italy always had attached to it the picture of playing the piano in Italy. Somehow they have always been linked. When we first arrived in Lecce, I knew that if I just calmly stayed alert to ideas and opportunities I would find the right place to practice. Our first night wandering the town we passed under some beautiful, old open windows where the sounds of an aria were wafting out. Jim and I sat and listened for a while and were enchanted. A while later we heard live piano music and the idea was sparked. After passing the windows daily and coming to learn that it was an art gallery, the day came where I felt my natural reticence subside and I walked up to the owner and said (in my best Italian), “I have heard a piano inside. I am a pianist and I am looking for a place to practice while I am here.” He smiled and said, “Well you could play here.”
Muimart entrance
From then on I would go to the gallery called Muimart every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday and play for hours. It was definitely a dream come true. I made dear friends in the artist/owner of the gallery (Adriano) and another artist across the street (Leonardo – not da Vinci, was the first thing he told me :))
Me with my two biggest fans (in Italy anyway)Leonardo Guarino
I think Jim was able to capture the scene in a few of these pictures and the video. On every visit, I was greeted with the most amazing generosity of spirit and appreciation for the music. Some days I was even greeted with sunflowers and a kiss of the hand. All in all, truly magical and I will never forget these people and their warmth.
Here is how it looked from the outside.
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No matter how hard we tried, we have already started accumulating more stuff: a keyboard for Holly’s teaching, a moka coffee maker, a water pik, books from Italian school, a Linkem internet modem (it is bigger than you might think and wouldn’t work in Lucca as we had been told), etc. We were then faced with the problem of how to get all of that stuff to Lucca and/or what to do with it. Since the idea of carrying it on to a train was not a pretty picture, we decided to rent a car and pack it all in (left a small box with Gianfranco) and just kick the problem down the road a month.
Other than hurrying North to arrive in Lucca in time for our landlords to watch the Germany vs. Italy EURO 2016 soccer match (they are Germans living in Italy and were somewhat conflicted), it was a rather long and uneventful, if at times beautiful, drive.
There was one highlight I wanted to share. As anyone who worked with me at Serengeti knows, for 11 years I worked closely with Fran Russo from American Express. Several times during those years we discussed her roots in small hill town in Italy. As it happens, the beautiful little hill town of Cansano was only a few miles out of our way and we decided to take the side trip and have lunch there. We had a delightful meal while a thunder-storm rolled in the distance. Fran tells me her father’s house was just off the town square. I have the picture, but can’t tell you which house.
We arrived in Lucca in time for everyone to watch the game. Even if it took a shootout to do it, Germany beat Italy for the first time ever in a major tournament!
I love the flowers along the motorwaysWelcomeVillage mapView from our lunch table
Our first two months in Italy came to an end on Friday, July 1st. We rented a car on Saturday and moved our base to Lucca in Tuscany, where we will stay for the month of July. Before we left Lecce, we signed a one year lease for an apartment in the “Centro Storico” and we will be returning to the United States in August to apply for our long stay visa. We obviously like it here.
After finishing up our four-week Italian class with a group of students from Ohio State, we stayed an extra day in Lecce at the insistence of the manager of the apartment we lived in, Gianfranco Miglietta, because he wanted to throw us a party. He is building a place in the country by himself and he invited not only us but many of his friends to join in the festivities. He had his daughter, Camilla, and her boyfriend, Simone, drive us to and from the party (have I told you how warm and hospitable the people here are?). In addition to the half built house, there is an entrance arch and a small external pavilion (where the party was held) with Gianfranco’s pride and joy, the wood fired pizza/bread oven he built. With the assistance of several others, he made pucce, the local puff bread for sandwiches, and pizza. All of which were delicious and we all ate until we could eat no more.
We have had several remarkable experiences since we arrived in Italy, but this was one of the very best. The warmth of Gianfranco, his wife Paola and his daughter Camilla made us feel like we were truly special. We look forward to reconnecting with them when we return.
We didn’t get home until after midnight and then had to wake up at 5:30 to finish packing and head out for Lucca.
