Lucca

20 years ago - #Tuscany

I feel repetitive saying that this Lucca is a beautiful, medieval town. All of these towns have their own personality and should be experienced. This town has a cosmoploitan heart to it. Once we hit the main area, we found that it was full of small streets with shops galore.

The main church in town

Artwork in the church

Lucca is the birthplace of opera composer Giacomo Puccini (he wrote Madama Butterfly, La Boheme, and Turandot for all you cultural heathens). The had a museum of his house which was more interesting than one would imagine. David bought a first print of a score there.

A statue of Puccini

Puccini's Piano

Next: Pisa

The subtitle of a trip to Pisa should be "Come for the Tower. Stay for the Cathedral.". Honestly, I don't know why everyone gets so excited about the tower. Especially when the cathedral and the baptistry were stunning.

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Garfagnana

As we came out of the mountains, we settled into an area called the Garfagnana. This is where I want my Italian home. It was serene, luscious, the homes were beautiful, and we were close to Lucca for shopping.

Sienna

Although I'd be hard-pressed to pick a favorite city in Tuscany, a couple of people told me that they thought Sienna to be one of the most beautiful cities they've ever been to. It certainly ranks quite high. We set today to be almost exclusively dedicated to Sienna. There's a breathtaking cathedral, wonderul shops, local cuisine, and great history.

San Gemignano

After two days of touring Florence, we were ready to hit the road and see more of Tuscany. In general, I found the Tuscans drove quickly, but fairly. Of course, we wouldn't dare driving in the actual towns. Usually, the goal was to park just outside the medieval walls and walk in. San Gemignano is built on a hill and looks like a small mideival Manhattan with towering spires. They had one main church with incredible murals, but one is not allowed to take photographs.