Lucca

This is our 6th day in the town of Lucca (an ancient walled "city" in the Tuscan region). We have an apartment on the third floor off a cobble stone street (more like an alley). We've had to spend some time making the place feel like home. It was a bit dirty and has a lot of broken furniture but we've slowly cleaned it and temporarily fixed the furniture. To make a very long story short, we were suppose to stay at a friends house in Lucca but they canceled the night before we left for our trip. We basically came to Lucca homeless. We have been so blessed to meet Esa and Benny (an Italian couple who own a rental agency in town). They found us the one and only apartment available for a long term rental. Hence the reason we have no room to be picky. So we (I've) had to learn to love the place! It's in the perfect location. Just around the corner there's my cappuccino place (owned by a very friendly husband and not so friendly wife......well, she is to the girls but not so much to me........hmmmm?), a fabulous bakery, a produce market, a butcher, a cheese shop, and Hotel Ilaria. The people at Hotel Ilaria have become Aric's great friends (who doesn't Aric make friends with!). They let him borrow their bikes to go around town, use the phone for local calls and give him fresh croissants in the morning.
We've since become great friends with Benny and Esa. They've taken us under their wings. Last night they took us to a true family style restaurant (No menu. They bring you what eve it is they've decided to cook that night) up in the hills outside of town. It was a full moon (almost) and we sat on the top of the mountain looking down upon Lucca........breathtaking! Aric is training with Benny for the Lucca marathon which is in 5 weeks. You can run around the perimeter of Lucca (3 miles)........ absolutely beautiful run. The path lies on the walls that surround the city/town. There are beautiful parks and trees, not to mention all the ancient clock towers, castles, churches and drawbridges.
As I run around the city perimeter in the mornings there are old Italian men playing chess on picnic tables and old Italian women reading the morning paper on the benches. Next to them sits their bike with the basket on the front filled with fruits, veggies and flowers from the markets. Children play in the simple parks (just a couple swings and slides) while their parents laugh along with them or read a book on the grass. They're not on their cell phones wishing they were some where else. Everyone seems to be where they want to be. Enjoying the moment they're in.
The weather here is perfect. About 80-85 during the day and about 65 at night. The last couple of mornings, we can feel fall in the air. I think we may have a couple more weeks of warm, if that. It is suppose to rain on Sunday.
We are enjoying having no car and walking every where. We are looking in to getting a couple of used bikes to get around town. Since it's still tourist season, bike places aren't selling their bikes yet. They make more money renting them.
I'm not nearly as homesick as I was but still miss our families and our home. It gets easier every day.
We'll be in Lucca until the end of October.
Until next time..........
xoxo
Click below to see pictures of our adventures. They'll be updated every couple of weeks.
http://web.me.com/tquackenbush/Site_3/September_2010.html