Blogs from Bagni di Lucca, Tuscany, Italy, Europe

After the rain yesterday, we were pleased to wake to a cool, clear sunny day. We decided to head for Bagni di Lucca, a series of spa towns in the mountains north-east of Lucca. On the recommendation of reviews in Trip Advisor, we opted to have lunch in a small town called Vico Pancellorum, up a narrow, twisting mountain road 14km of out of Bagni di Lucca. We arrived famished, only to find that the restaurant didn't open until the strange time of 3pm. By the time we arrived at our next choice of restaurant in Benabbio, it was nearly 2pm and the place was deserted. The owner kindly agreed to make lunch for us and we were not disappointed. We were both given huge servings of our chosen dishes, beautifully home-cooked. We decided that we ... read more

Now I mentioned yesterday that Gretchen said she wasn’t going to leave the place we arrived at last night in the Umbrian countryside and this morning when I opened the shutters to let the sun and the sounds of the birds in the garden into our room and admired the countryside, even I was convinced along with her. This really was like the places you see in the tour brochures that encourage you to take a visit to Umbria and soak up the ambience and relax. What a life the owners of these places must have! Our overnight stay had been in an apartment that was one of 5 in the main building of an old farm house that had been converted for accommodation. The apartment had a large bedroom, separate toilet and shower as well ... read more