Lucca

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What a wonderful four days we've had with our Sydney family. Trent, Denise, Eva, Matilda and Charlie arrived in Lucca 10 days before our arrival on Sunday evening. The villa they acquired is about 40 minutes out of Lucca. Set high up on the side of one of the many mountains and with a beautiful swimming pool overlooking the valley, it is very easy to relax and enjoy the surroundings.

We visited Pisa and Lucca on Tuesday. In Pisa, after doing the obligatory tourist viewing of the leaning tower, we treated ourselves to a horse and buggy tour of the centre of the city before going back to Lucca, where we hired push bikes and rode the 5 kilometre track around on top of the rim of the old original town wall. It was another very hot day so the ride under the large canopy of trees with the breeze blowing through was a lovely way to see inside the old city.

Les, Trent and Rob spent a day travelling to and from Bologna and Moderna to visit the Ferrari and Lamborghini factories, while we girls and Charlie went to a local village, Barga, for coffee and pastries and a walk through the old village lanes and shops. Again, the boys were in "boy heaven!"

Trent and the the girls joined us on our trip up into the mountains to tour through the Grotta del Vento, not unlike the Jenolan Caves. The girls were intrigued with the whole experience.

Trent and Denise took us to an excellent Italian restaurant last night, Ponte di Campia, where we not only enjoyed superb cuisine and hospitality, but also Denise's Italian language expertise as did the owner of the restaurant.

Rob and Ros departed today, for Florence before flying out tomorrow evening for Australia.

We've all had a lovely trip through Italy, exploring and experiencing so many wonderful Italian customs together. Les and I leave tomorrow for France for the last two weeks of our wonderful a holiday. We all look forward to catching up again at home in a couple of weeks.

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