BELLA LUCCA!

Friday was a long day with some overly talkative students and a frustrating Italian lesson way too early in the morning (seriously - my brain is not meant to speak this language)..so I was determined to get out of Florence and see more of Tuscany..especially since the weather has been so beautiful and it's so AUTUMN here.  So Saturday Meaghan and I went to Lucca.  For once, the fact that the buses here are perpetually late ran in our favor, and we were treated to a beautiful drive throught the Tuscan countryside.  It was GORGEOUS!!  Amazing Fall colors and the quaintest little towns I have seen yet.  I think it might just beat Florence for beauty, especially this time of year, as Lucca is covered with trees.  It's an old medieval town with the original walls still surrounding the city.  You can bike or stroll on top of the walls, and every path is bordered by trees and parks and grass and a forest and playgrounds - all on top of 17th century stone.  We reveled in the beautiful weather and stunning scenery with the rest of the town for our passeggiata della mura (stroll along the wall).  
We also found a local culinary show, where we got to try some of the most amazing honey, olive oil, bread and jams made in Lucca - who knew that acacia honey is my favorite.  I also learned not to try anything from the meat stands because I always end up tasting things like lard on bread and having to spit it back out.  We had pizza for lunch and my favorite cannella gelato for dessert topped off a wonderful day!

 Autumn leaves and city walls

Beautiful architecture everywhere

I think every town should be required to have at least one carousel

I'm sorry - but I just can't get enough of Fall!!

 

Meaghan riding her bike - we rented some and rode on top of the wall for the 4 km loop - my bike skills are not what they used to be but it's also not such a good idea to try and take pictures while riding..but it just kept getting prettier around every turn..

 

 

Some pics of the city walls and the town inside and outside of the walls.

And a stunning sunset, or course..perfect end to a perfect day! 


Random things: I saw my first Christmas lights turned on at a cafe this week!  They're going up all over town and I am so excited to see them finally get lit one day.  Christmas decorations are going up all over.. I made myself a pretty good burrito with chili beans and pecorino cheese, the quesadillas were even better - but I can't wait until I get a taste of some real refried and black beans.  I saw my first movie since I've been here - New Moon (popular with all the young girls here as well) - it was a little overly dramatic but the scenery was great and I understood most of the Italian.