Day 109: Thursday, May 5, 2011

The walls that surround Lucca

Christi walking the walls of Lucca

This morning we all woke up chipper after an amazing eight hours of beauty sleep.  We quickly packed up our suitcases and got dressed, then headed out to check out the continental breakfast.  It was about as expected, random deli meets spread out on a platter, croissants galore, and coffee.  We all grabbed a quick something to eat then headed off to Luca, an adorable little walled city about 10 minutes walk away.  We walked along the walls for a bit, looking at the beautiful Tuscan fields on one side of us and the quaint city on the other side.
As we made our way into the city, it was like we were walking through a city in the 18th century.  Construction workers were using pulley systems to transport buckets of cement and there were wells of water at the end of random streets.  Even the people seemed out of touch with reality, yet more than content with their simple way of life.  We walked through the quiet streets of the town, window-shopping and peering into many of the little shops.  Pottery stores seem to dominate southern Italy, and we had no complaints.  We walked into each and every pottery store and gazed at the intricate details of the bowls, clocks, pots, tables, silverware, platters, cups, dish sets, pretty much anything and everything was sold in these pottery stores.  Yet store somehow seemed to be have its own individual atmosphere.  Different designs, shapes, and color schemes made all the merchandise seem unique and rare.  We loved Lucca, a lot.  While the town was very small, it was still complete with it’s own Duomo, charming locals, unique streets and plazas, and typical European charisma.

Christi and I in front of the Duomo in Lucca

After each store-owner had seen us pass by three times, we decided it was time to leave.  We had exhausted each and every street in a matter of a few hours, so afterwards we had no choice but to move on.  We left the walled city and headed to Montecantini Alto, an even smaller town perched right on the peak of a mountain.  We drove half way up the mountain and then hiked the rest of it.  When we got to the top, there were gorgeous views and a teeny tiny little plaza at the top.   

 

We sat down in the outdoor seating of one of the restaurants and had some lunch.  Mine was terrible; I had a really small, gross, plain salad that I was super bummed about.  Not shocked, but bummed.  When we finished, we stayed at our table for a little bit.  The sun was shinning right on us, and since we were on the tip of a mountain, the heat was high and it felt fabulous.  

Lunch and champagne!

The four of us after lunch

Afterwards, we hiked back down the mountain, then decided to pop into our hotel, drop off our stuff and then visit another little Tuscan town.  Well, that was the plan at least.  The website of the hotel said it was in a great location, right in the middle of Lucca, Siena, and San Gimignano.  Turns out, it was 45 minutes from each of those towns, nuzzled deep in the Tuscan hills, with nothing but winding dirt roads leading to it, and no signs directing us to it at all.  It took us over an hour to find it, mostly because we kept slowing down and stopping because we were sure we were on the wrong route...but we weren't.  We finally reached our hotel that was literally in the middle of absolute nowhere.  And it turns out it wasn’t a hotel, we had our own detached apartment that was nice and spacious, except for it only had one bedroom.  Christi and I had a pull out couch.  However, the view from our apartment was breathtaking.  We were completely surrounded by vineyards, rolling hills, acres of untouched fields, and crisp fresh air.  In the very faint distance, we could see the towers of San Gimanino if we looked really hard.  Christi was super bummed about the placement of our hotel; she really wanted to be in hubbub of things, and in her defense, we couldn’t have been further from civilization.  While we all got over the distance from the other cities, we cracked a bottle of wine, sat out on our own private patio, and gazed into the horizon.  After a while, we took a stroll around the grounds for a bit, mostly taking in the beauty of Southern Italy.  We were lucky enough to witness one of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen just as we were booking a dinner reservation with the hotel.

Under the Tuscan Sun

However, by the time it rolled around, we were exhausted and not that hungry.  The dinner included wine and about five courses, each of which could have been a meal on their own.  So naturally, after the first two courses, I was stuffed to the brim.  I told the cook I didn’t want the last few courses, but then everyone made me feel really bad because apparently that was like a personal insult.  Even though Christi didn’t eat virtually anything because she doesn’t eat meat, my mom didn’t eat the main course because she doesn’t like veal, and Ellen left after the first course because she was tired and had a headache after a few bottles of wine.  Somehow I was still made to be the bad guy?  Needless to say, the 50E per person that this meal cost us was a total waste.  Finally, after about two hours and 200 wasted euros, my mom, Christi, and I left to go to bed.  Christi and I pulled out the couch and fell asleep quite easily.  Something about roaming through Tuscan villages wears me out!