Tuesday, October 25, is a historic day in our time in Tuscany! We drove home from Lucca without one hesitation, hitch, or mishap!!! Yep, veterans of the Italian roads!

Well, in order to drive home from Lucca, first we had to get there! We had a 9:00 departure and no problems until Google Maps led us astray by having us take Florence north instead of Pisa north! That nessecitated going through the toll plaza to first chance to cross over & retrace our steps. Then it was smooth sailing clear into Lucca Centro inside the ramparts (1544-1650).

The walls of Lucca are the only major city walls in Italy to have survived 19th century destruction. It is a lovely promenade and especially beautiful in this fall season as you can see in the above photo! We strolled atop the wall to reach the Duomo enjoying the overview of people's gardens, the Botantical Gardens

and seeing the locals walking, cycling, running, and playing dominos. One group of 4 men were there when we arrived & were still there playing approximately 4 hours later! Did they go home for lunch & then reconvene? The curious want to know!

Phoebe's photo 

The Duomo is early 13th century with this lovely sculpture at the tomb of Ilaria.

Volto Santo, a wooden crucifix venerated all around Europe since the Middle Ages supposedly carved by Nicodemus

Alter-piece representing the Virgin and Child surrounded by saints

The Last Supper by Tintoretto (Photo by Phoebe)

Those are the particular works of art that really stand out in the Duomo!

None of us chose to climb the 217 steps of the bell tower so we moseyed on towards lunch. We found a cosy, little place with outside seating. 

No photos of food! We shared caprece; Phoebe & I had cannanoli (okay, yes, I have been in Italy long enough I should know how spell this dish!) w/spinach & Sarah had a pasta with meat sauce. 

Getting in the Halloween spirit!

While I waited to settle the bill, Sarah and Phoebe walked around the plaza. We met on corner as I enjoyed my dessert. There just happened to be a gelato shop on my way! Phoebe also indulged! 

We thought Il Pinguino (penguin) was a cute name for gelato!! We need practice on our photo staging as you can't see the picture of a penguin which would have allowed the photo to be self-explanatory!! It did contain rum raisen gelato - yum!

Sarah has gone to bed as she's had a sore throat and cough for a couple of days - now trying to get on top of staying rested, etc.  Phoebe is also settled into her comfy sofa bed with her iPad! My phone's battery is low and the plug downstairs is by a comfortable settee vs straight-back chair upstairs so I came down to also get comfy!! So the rest of this blog will be created only by me whereas other posts have been group efforts though I take full responsibility for any & all errors!

Lucca is gearing up for a HUGE Comic event this coming weekend so many of the plazas/squares had gigantic tent-like structures with real doors! It was difficult to get the true feeling of the old city due to these additions.

I didn't get a photo of tents!

Next stop is Casa Puccini...

Interestingly enough, one guidebook has a photo of a Puccini sculpture that isn't this one! We never saw one where he is wearing a hat!

The house

Now we wander a bit back to the San Michele in Foro and then towards the car.

Once we got back to the wall, my knee was saying 'enough' so once again I sat while the car was collected and came to me! Fortunately, I was right by a sign that said, " Usceta Citta."  Yes, exit the city!! It took Sarah and Phoebe a couple of tries to get to me (one way streets can be so frustrating!) but once I was on board, off we went on our error free trip home!! A peaceful night with good leftovers fixed by Phoebe who also did the dishes. As she said, "Get me while you can!" We have one more day with her here in Tuscany so we have several different outings planned. Until tomorrow...