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Published: June 14th 2011
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Hot Old Man on a Bike
JC on his rental bike Day 6 - Lucca Day 3:
Well, we ended up not going to Florence, but found out later, when we went to check on the next train trip to Cinque Terre, that the price for the train to Florence wasn't as much as we'd thought, which was one of the factors we used in deciding not to go to Florence. Trenitalia, for some reason, charged us about 15 Euros from Florence to Lucca, but we saw that we could have gone to Florence from Lucca for only 5.20 Euros, a big difference! Oh well, live and learn. Still haven't figured out why the price difference. Anyways, we decided to make a late start and then rent bikes for a trip outside of Lucca to the place where we will have our Tuscan cooking class tomorrow. The bikes were 3 Euros per hour each, so we rented 3 of them from Cicli Bizzarri and headed out the northern gate. After a brief side trip on the wrong road, we got properly oriented and made pretty good time, considering we were going slowly. We found the Hotel/Ristorante Carignano after about 40 minutes, took a short break and then continued around, returning to
Leaving Lucca
Pastoral view from the bridge leaving Lucca Lucca in a circuit, more or less. We ended up renting the bikes for two hours and enjoyed a pleasant ride in the Italian countryside. All the cars and motorcycles are used to encountering bikes on the roads, so it wasn't all that scarey or dangerous, you just have to trust them and stay near the edge of the road. After returning the bikes, it was past time for lunch, so we found an interesting place in the Piazza Anfiteatro again and had lunch. I had cannelloni with ricotta and spinach (getting redundant on my ingredients!) that was very good, Manoli had a mixed salad (insalata mixta), and Alexis had a focaccio/sandwich with prosciutto and mozzarella. With lunch under our belts, we strolled around a bit, looking for supermarkets and then to the train station to check on the price and times for our train trip to Corniglia the day after tomorrow. Since the price was lower than expected, we ended up buying the tickets then and there. From Lucca to Corniglia in Cinque Terre was only 5.40 Euros each, if you leave at 10:31. Other times were more expensive, or so the ticket guy said. The ticket to Genoa
Hotel/Ristorante Carignano
The Hotel/Restaurant where we have our cooking class tomorrow from Cinque Terre will be quite cheap too, but the big one will be from Genoa to Venice, with a stop in Verona. After buying the tickets, we did some more shopping, had some gelato, then headed towards the hostel. Manoli and Alexis had decided they wanted to do fruit again, so they bought assorted fruit bowls in a gelateria and ate them in the room while I went out to finally try the much lauded prosciutto e melone (ham and melon). There was an expensive place very near the hostel at only 8 Euros (apparently a dish that is popular and only available when melon is in season), so I went there and ate by myself. It was very good, but I wouldn't say it was anything special, and not worth the 11 plus dollars. Oh well, I tried it. Back to the room to read, write this, and check email. Tomorrow is our big day in Lucca, with our Tuscan cooking class wtih Chef Paolo Monti, from 10:00am til about 2:30pm. We will be learning how to make a number of dishes from antipasto, thru primi piati and secondi piati (first course and second course), and the locally
Bike Break
Taking a bike break at the Hotel Carignano famous biscotti as dessert. See ya then!
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Judy
non-member comment
Hey, Baby Brother! Stop calling yourself old!
Hi Guys, Another great trip! Italy is the one place that I really want to see before I die. And speaking of old - John, if you are my baby brother and you are old, what does that make me? I am not "old". Therefore, you are not old. LOL. Love your descriptions. Be sure to tell us lots about the cooking class. JJ