Hello Everyone,
Our flight to Italy this time was one of the best ever. For the first time, we upgraded to a premium seat that was wider than normal and offered us our own row of two seats left of the aisle, instead of three. It was not “first class”, but the wider seats and private row made all the difference. It was definitely worth it, enjoying the extra comfort and not worrying about being stuck next to a coughing stranger in the next seat. Not all airplanes have these seats available, and the flight home, which is through Delta’s partner, Air France, does not. We’ll have to risk the sneezing stranger on the way home…. finger’s crossed.
A few hours into our journey the flight attendant announced that masking for the flight was no longer required. Confused, I thought we had crossed some international boundary and didn’t have to follow USA flight rules any more. However, we came to find out that, as you probably know by now, a federal judge from Florida had just ruled that the federal masking requirement for COVID protection had been illegal for the last 14 months and was revoked. Contrary to what you might have heard from the “media” [whatever that is these days], there was no clapping or cheering on the airplane and almost no one removed their mask. It really wasn’t that big of a burden for us to wear those masks for our 17 hour journey to Lucca. In fact, it helped me feel a little more confident that I wasn’t going to take someone else’s cold or flu or COVID off the airplane with me. I also found a positive effect of wearing the mask. It keeps my nasal membranes moist in the very dry air of an airplane cabin. I didn’t have to go to the lavatory regularly to moisten my nose with saline spray. [ok, too much information…..? I’ll move on]
Arriving in Lucca in mid afternoon, we managed to put 5 miles on the shoe leather before we stopped for supper. The weather forecast was kind of iffy going forward, so we wanted to get in as much sightseeing as possible, before it turned bad. The weather did hold out and the next two days we logged more than 10 miles each day walking around the city.
We had been warned that the best restaurants were fully booked for the evening meal and we might not be able to get in. However, the restaurants all open at 7:00 pm and no self respecting Italian [or “would-be” Italian] would ever go to supper as early as 7pm. So, we were able to walk into most any restaurant, when it opened, and get seated, as long as we agreed to be finished by 8:30pm, when most of the reservations started. That worked for us. Our first restaurant experience worked out very well. We had delicious antipasti, two entrees, drinks and desert, all for about $40. The dollar has grown much more valuable lately [at about $1.08 per Euro now] and it’s making foreign travel a little more affordable.
A few other things have improved for travelers, in the past 3 years, since we last traveled abroad. We used to make sure we had foreign-working ATM cards [and backups] so that we could easily withdraw cash for spending money. That, I believe, will be a thing of the past. In an effort to expand “touch-less” transactions to protect from COVID, virtually everyone now takes digital currency. We have been using Apple-Pay everywhere. And, on the Apple Watch, it’s so easy. Just a flick of the wrist and it’s paid instantly. No handing credit cards back and forth or entering PIN numbers any more. The merchants seem very pleased when you ask to pay with Apple-Pay. It is so much faster and safer for them. After almost one week here, we’re still working on the €100 cash that we brought along, left over from a past trip. We’ll be rethinking those ATM cards for future trips.
There is a specialty breakfast food in Lucca that we liked. It’s called “Torta Erbi” [Herb Tort]. It’s cooked like a quiche, in a pie crust, with greens [spinach, swiss chard and/or mint], pine nuts, grapes, rice and other “secret” ingredients. It’s mildly sweet instead of savory and tastes delicious. We recommend you give it a try the next time you are in Lucca. Another interesting food tidbit I did not know is that Tuscany is known for its meat. While we were having pasta, we kept seeing other patrons ordering these giant 2 pound-plus “T-Bone” steaks. The waiter would bring it to their table to inspect before cooking. It looked yummy, but there is no way I could eat one of those giant steaks.
The city of Lucca began as a walled Roman city about the second century BC. The city was enlarged with expanded walls several times over the millennia. The current wall was built in the 15th century and stands in good condition today. There is a walking/biking path on top of the wall that measures 2.6 miles around. For those of you reading this in Seattle, this encircles a city about the size of the water in Greenlake. It currently houses about 10,000 people. Of course, by now, the city has expanded well beyond its walls to about 100,000. The current wall was built by the military to defend the city against its enemies, like Pisa and Florence. Back then these little fiefdoms competed [and warred] vigorously against each other. Lucca was never destroyed during any of the wars, ancient or modern. However, age has taken its toll over the centuries and the current buildings are a composite of building and rebuilding, incorporating materials from many periods of development from Roman, through the Middle Ages, the Renaissance and now modern times.
Lucca was a destination on the “Silk Road” and was famous for its own silk garments. But now, they say, it’s famous for making 80% of Italy’s toilet paper. The main “square” in Lucca is actually an “oval”, built on top of an original Roman amphitheater. During the various plagues in the Middle Ages, travelers coming through, on their way to Rome, were required to quarantine for 40 days before they were freed [that is, if they didn’t die first]. Quarantine originated from the Italian word, “quaranta” meaning “40”. I’d say our COVID quarantine of 10 to 14 days compares favorably with that.
The most famous person, that was born and lived here, is Giacomo Puccini, who is the most performed opera composer in the world. They perform his works every day in Lucca. One evening we attended a performance of selections from his operas. We had front row seats along with about 50 other masked and vaxed patrons, in a half filled small chapel that had great acoustics. It was amazingly intimate. We were so close we could make eye contact with the performers and keep our place in the program by seeing the titles on top the music at the piano. I’ve included a 45 second video sampling at the bottom of the photo gallery [see link below].
And a couple more Lucca fun facts:
– It was popular for wealthy families to build towers to live in. However, no tower could exceed the height of the Council Tower. One family, trying to be “better than the rest”, planted trees on the top of their tower, exceeding the maximum height. Trees can still be seen there today.
– The famous Basilica of St. Frediano houses the remains of Lucca’s patron, St. Zita (died in 1278). The face, hands and feet of her “un-embalmed” body are showing as mummified, instead of deteriorating. They claim it is because she died from lead poisoning. Hummm…..
That should do it for Lucca. It’s a popular place to visit and I’m surprised we have never been here before. I have assembled some photos with captions for your viewing pleasure in the column at the right.
Carol has also recently released a blog post. If you haven’t seen it yet, you can find it at her usual address here:
Our next main stop is Genoa, after a quick two night visit to a small town nearby, Chiavari, that we wanted to see. Hope to see you all there.
Later………………. your favorite travelers, Tom and Carol
Lucca Photos
Click to Enlarge and Read Caption
