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Published: August 23rd 2007
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Lucca
Off to ride the Ramparts Trouble in the Homeland
August 18, 2007
In previous blogs I made mention of August being the vacation month of all of Europe…well we got stung by this in my ancestral hometown of Lucca. My grandfather, Paul Selmi, emigrated from Italy in 1911. He was born in Lammari, Italy right outside the ancient Roman city of Lucca. We decided when planning our Italy itinerary (planned on the fly in Croatia on the beach) to include Lucca. My good friend Katherine recommended it and her taste is beyond reproach so combined with our heritage and need to be in Tuscany on August 18th, off we went after Vernazza.
We left the US with no accommodations other than 4 nights in London at the start of our trip. I was so hesitant about this…but was reassured by many it was OK. It was OK. We had traveled all over for weeks…showing up and getting the accommodations that we wanted within out budget and not flea infested vagabond motels. (The American in me coming out after year of Hiltons, Westins and Hyatt’s.) We planned a week in Croatia with my sister’s friend and a week in Tuscany based on a recommendation
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Roof tops of Lucca of our new friends Pam and Jim. However, while in Croatia I decided it was a bad idea to show in Italy in August with no reservations. I got busy making them and got everything planned and scheduled but for the 4 days in Lucca…bad move!!
We arrived Tuesday afternoon and went to the first B & B on our list. It is owned by the nicest woman in the world, Anna. She asked how long we wanted to stay and we said 3-4 days. She looked concerned…Anna didn’t speak much English but we got that she was full. She was able to take us 2 nights at a great rate for a beautiful room with breakfast. We were in heaven! Lucca is great…affordable, great food, nice people…love it. We should have no problem getting the other 2 days covered, right…wrong! The next day we took a leisurely bike ride on the ramparts of the medieval wall, had some lunch and set out looking for a room. After 2 hours we had been rejected from every place we checked, except for the 3 hotels that were way outside our price range and 2 that didn’t answer the door. I
felt a mild panic come over me…what should we do? Should we leave Lucca and head south closer to the villa we needed to be in on Saturday? After an almost fight, Scott suggested that since we haven’t visited Lammari or the Leaning Tower of Pisa yet and wasted a better part of an afternoon looking for a place, we splurge, take the expensive place for one night, leave town the day after and head for the country after a visit to the homeland. OK…we reserved the fancy place and went about our day.
We left sweet Anna and moved our stuff down the lane to a swanky American style hotel. We then spent a lovely afternoon in Pisa. We were so close that I had to see the Leaning Tower. We took the train to Pisa from Lucca and set out walking across the city to the tower. Pisa is not much to speak of…a small city with little charm. The monuments in the Field of Miracles was quite impressive, the throngs of tourists however were not. The Leaning Tower was fun to look at. We walked around the area to view it from every angle before sitting
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Better in person...very cool on the grass while the four of us imagined several scenarios of it falling over with all the people all around. We are a warped group aren’t we! We decided to get out while we could and return to the charm of Lucca.
Here is where things start to go wrong for us, the next day after sleeping in, packing up and moving out of our fancy hotel, we lingered in town a little too long before setting out to Lammari. Once on our way, our map reader got us lost on the 11 minute ride to Grandpa Paul’s hometown. We finally arrived to the Via dei Selmi…yes they have a street named after us…after 40 minutes to find a sleepy little town all on holiday. We drove around, check it all out and then Scott wanted to go back to Lucca for lunch. It is now 3:00 and we have no lodging for the night. While at lunch Scott says he thinks since we never made it out of town we should stay one more night before heading to our villa the next day. He swears, he saw some nice hotels outside the city wall and we should
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Will takes a jacuzzi bath in the luxury hotel. have no trouble getting in. Ok…I say so at 4:45 off we go. Suddenly we are back in Lammari…still no sign of life…or lodging. We drive back to Lucca, while my blood pressure is starting to rise. Scott swears, he saw a whole group of hotels…we drive around Lucca no hotels. He drives around again…no hotels…finally he comes to one, a 4 star place…full say reception! Things start to go bad between me and Scott…how can two people who are on the same team be so un-team like. Will assigns spots in the car where we will each be sleeping...there is trouble in the homeland!
Back in Lucca, the town we should have left 2 day again, we find ourselves on a Friday night, with no lodging, a full city at 7:00 at night! I renew my request to just head toward Florence and see what we come across. Scott insists on staying. He and Justin set off to see if the fancy place can take us again…budget be damned. Will and I wait in the car, planning how we will all sleep there and noting that daddy gets the dirty towel for a blanket. They are gone a
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Peaceful cafe life long time…40 minutes goes by…Will says they would have been back sooner if there was room. Sadly, I fear he is right. Finally they return, and yes the fancy fall back was full…but they got us at a B & B while expensive is a little less euros and includes breakfast. At this point I am happy, get my backpack and head in. It is a charming place, and I figure we are almost done with hotels so what is a 2 night splurge, right?? WRONG…we check out the next morning to find t hat the breakfast was not included and cost us for a few coffees and some buns 50 euros. I nearly flipped out. I politely paid the bill, walked to the car and cried. Scott says…”I guess I should have clarified the breakfast deal, huh?” Poor guy he was just trying to find us a place to stay in August amongst all the tourists.
Thankfully we have arrived at our gorgeous farmhouse in the Chianti region of Tuscany. It is out of a dream. The space is huge, fabulous, has a gourmet kitchen, swimming pool, and all the dogs and cats two boys can ever ask
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A street named after us in Lammari for to play with! We are here for a week of R & R and wine tasting….ahhh August in Italy!
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Dave
non-member comment
All's well that ends well.
Nothing like a little stress to let you appreciate it when things go right. Not that there is anything too bad about having to stay in a fancy hotel w/ a jacuzzi in Italy. But for the lodging issues your time in and around Lucca sounded great. Nice picture of you with your street. Hopefully it got it's name for a good reason and not for some infamous act committed by one of your forebearers. Chianti area should be wonderful. Next stop Paris?