Lovely Lucca

Lucca is a beautiful, smaller Tuscany city - about an hour's ride, west on the train from Prato, our current place of residence. It is listed as one of the top ten small cities in Italy to visit. Plus, some travelling royalty that we know, have plans to visit this place later in the year. We thought it be wise for us to check it out and make sure it would be suitable for them! Below is the entrance into the walled city centre.

Lucca's call to fame, besides being nestled in the lush green, rolling hills of the Tuscany area, is its architecture (second only to Florence). And, the medieval historical centre of the city, along with many wonderful shops and vendors, is all protected by a very sturdy brick wall, dating back - hmm, let's just say a long time ago. It is a very quaint and beautiful spot to explore.

Many of you may know that Pete and I have a "crush" on the Fiat cars that have made their way into the North American market. We like to count how many we see when we are out and about in Vancouver (I know - doesn't take much to amuse us)!  Guess the word got leaked that we were coming as this was what greeted us as we arrived! Yup, a "fiat alert!

Pete wanted to take this for a spin, but I had other plans for him...

Yes, I needed some quiet time!

Of course, I was only kidding.  Off we went together, to fetch ourselves some lunch. Finding a suitable restaurant appropriate to the mood can be a bit of a daunting task, but we were up for the challenge. La Grotta proved to be the perfect spot to perch our bottoms and fill our tummies - with pappardelle and wild boar sauce, accompanied by a petit pizza. Now, you must remember that we are sharing these things (before you start calling us some little wild "pigs")!

Anyways regardless of what you think - it was ah, so delicious!

Ciao for now, from Lucca!