Exercise and Paper Sculptures

The other night we found a side street that was busy with a vibrant young crowd. We immediately sat at one of the bar tables and ordered beer and wine. It was so entertaining. Then we wandered back to our favorite hang-out, the amphitheater. Because it’s considered too touristy, we can sit and relax without the crowds. Everyone crowds into the narrow streets and church plazas.

Lucca is completely surrounded by a fortified wall, which now serves as a walking and cycling path. We decided to go for a walk this morning. It’s supposedly only 2.6 miles around, but seemed much longer. We walked for about an hour and half. Thank goodness we’d stopped for a cappuccino and panini first. Apparently, two noblewomen in the distant past decided the walls should be made into a parkland. They planted trees and made a walking (and cycling) trail for the people of Lucca. It’s interesting that Lucca never had to make use of its military wall. At around that time the Americas were discovered and all the power-hungry folks turned their attention to the new world.

I love the view from the path. The gigantic trees keep it nice and cool. There were a couple of groups of school kids up there with their teachers. One was a group of boys sprinting to their coach at the shrill of a whistle. The other group was of maybe twenty teenage girls. Joe and I purposefully let ourselves get surrounded by them as they walked. It was like being in a gaggle of geese. All talking at once with ponytails swinging back-and-forth… so cute.

This town is way too small for cars. Way too small. From our window we can see down the street which ends at our door (we’re on the second floor—first floor to Europeans). Our daily entertainment is to watch the cars trying to get around the corner without tearing their car apart on the stone walls. This morning a service truck had us mesmerized. 

Because of the crazy roads, bicycles are the norm here. As you know, Italians are the most fashion conscious people in the world… even on bicycles. Pretty ladies with dresses and high-heels and men in suits cruise to work on bikes. Children start off with trikes and the elderly end up on trikes. Every single wall in the city has horse loops for the reigns, which are now for the bike-locks.

At 5:30, we met our guide, Luca, ("Luca of Tuscany like a local") in front of the train station for a tour. He was a blast. He walked us through the city, stopping to explain odd things like the street that never gets any sunlight so it’s named the dark street (loosely translated). We made three food stops. 

The first was Pizzeria L. Pellegrini. The pizza cook shoveled pizzas in and out of the blazing oven. The unique local item was Cecina (Cheh-Cheena). It is basically a thin pie-shaped cake made from chickpeas. It was great.

Then we walked further until we came to one of the oldest shops in Lucca; Antica Bottega di Prospero dal 1790. The owner of this wine/salame/olive oil store served us himself. It was a great experience to have him quietly pouring our wine and then hovering in the background as Luca explained the olives, the oil, and the salame board. He closed up shop but stayed with us until we were done.

Next we went to a restaurant we’d eaten at before and had a mixed board of bruschetta. One had the dreaded anchovy. I’ve never tasted anchovy and I swore I would if the opportunity presented itself. Another thing I dislike is liver pate… so naturally one of the bruschetta had chicken liver pate. I tried them both. I would never order either one again, but the anchovy with bufala mozzarella was okay. I still don’t like liver pate. It was a very nice evening and I think taking a food tour with Luca is well worth your time. You can find him on Airbnb’s tour page for Lucca: Lucca Aperitivo Adventuretour… morning or night version. It’s very personal and small groups.

Today we made our first breakfast at our home… scrambled eggs. Then we went to our favorite café to order cappuccini. Then we came back to our street and bought tickets for the Guinigi Tower. It’s directly across the street from our door. At the top of the tower is a bunch of trees. I will admit right now that I did not climb the 232 steps to the top without multiple rests. Climbing that many steps with a mask on wasn’t fun, but it was worth it. Torre Guinigi dates back to the 1300s. I’ve been in much better towers on the inside. This one had all modern steps and quite a few metal steps. There’s something awe inspiring about climbing up ancient worn stone steps with thousands of years of wear and tear. However the view from the top from under the ancient trees was pretty special.

They have little outdoor market places everywhere. I discovered the chocolate market! Oh yeah… I’m weak when it comes to chocolate. Next to the chocolate market is a giant sculpture of a person in a hoody. Veronica explained that the industry of Lucca has been, and is, the manufacture of paper products. They have different themes for the art on display throughout the year. Right now it’s “Fear and Desire.” I don’t understand the hoody sculpture, but the others were interesting:

This woman is trying to make friends with the dog, who clearly is afraid yet desires the contact.

The tightrope-walker is wanting to get to the other side, in spite of the danger.

This giant bull doesn’t look afraid to me, but maybe he is?

This man wants the freedom to fly, but looking at his face you can see the excitement and fear.