Blogs from Lucca, Tuscany, Italy, Europe - page 8

After a mourning of dull Italian lessons, I decided to take a day trip to Lucca. I had read previously that it was the only Tuscan city left with city walls still in use. The walls provide a good view and I was looking for a nice relaxing day. I had woken up with a conjested head and runny nose plus I was still over tired. The day was gloom the minute I awoke. I was overtired, sick and annoyed that I had to go to school. So, by the time it reached 12:30 I was not really in the mood for such a trip, I just felt like going to bed. However, when you are in one of the most beautiful countries, there is no time to be sick or tired or cranky. I headed ... read more

La Dolce Vita We had a wonderful stay in Italy. We spent 4 nights in a small town in Tuscany called Lucca. Our original plan was to go to Venice but as it was so cold over there we decided at the last moment to change our destination. Lucca was cold too, but with lots of layers and good coats we made it through. It is a beautiful medieval town, and we sampled the Dolce Vita (sweet life) the Italians live, as the boys tell you in the following: Amit: “We arrived at Italy late at night so we ate something and went to sleep. The next morning we woke up ready to explore the city of Lucca. We climbed on the walls - Lucca has walls from the middle ages. We went to a chocolate ... read more

Day 14 Lucca We rented bikes today and rode around on the city walls (4.2 kilometers, and we went around twice...) in the warm sun....the city is very liveable...compact and with many no-car areas. They are beginning to take down the many, many tents that cover each of the plazas, put up for the giant comic/gaming fair over the weekend. Hopefully some will be gone before we leave. After our bike ride we walked around the city, looking at the major sights, wandering the tiny alleys and passages, walking through the old gates, strolling the ramparts, and just savoring this wonderful city...We bought things for dinner in a bakery near the Ducal Palace and ate in our room. The evening light here is so soft....I went out again at dusk, to see my favorite church, St ... read more

I finally decided to do it-- after 25 years, ritorno in Italia ! That's not bad, this going to Italy every 25 years. At this rate my next trip will occur when I'm 78 years old, and who knows? It may be in a box! (Just kidding; I plan on living past 100 because I want to see if the Democrats achieve a 100% majority in both the House and Senate.) My friend Eugene and I were talking one time about the figurative town of Cazzolungo, in Sicily. In the 1960s the town found itself, thanks to emigration, with a large cemetery that wasn't being used. They decided to extend a hand to all the families of the Cazzolungans who'd left the town over the years and settled in America, offering to re-inter their deceased in ... read more

Okay; I've gone on and on and ON about getting ready for this trip, both here and here. And there was talk of my mother possibly coming along with me for this looming Italian trip-- talk which, in a Northern Italian woman, is spoken silently but nevertheless reverberates along the horsehair-and-plaster walls of her 1912 semi-detached house in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. We'd always spoken about making the crossing together, a trip I know she'd love. After all, Mom hasn't been to see her cousins since 1950. That trip was captured on film, all stored in yellow Kodak boxes and annotated by my family in various handwriting and spelling: "Porto Gallo" my grandfather wrote on the box that featured the ship's stop in Portugal; "Le fabbriche" notes the Italian town he grew up in ("The Factories"); and ... read more