Luka (Florence - Lucca)

Yes, dear reader, it's a transit day. Spoiler alert, all went smoothly. Our hotel, the Mercure Firenze Centro had the very civilised check-out time of 12pm which allowed for a most relaxed start to the day. We commenced  packing prior to searching for breakfast. There were three easy options, a café towards the station where we had not been, the Mercato Centrale where we were regulars on our last trip or the café where we had breakfast on day 1.

It's a transit day so we opted for proximity and familiarity and strolled the short distance to the nearest café. The lady who served us last time was nowhere to be seen so we sat at a table outside and waited. Nothing. No noise. No movement. Someone else went inside, several people came and went and then we heard the sound of the coffee machine. The customer inside had been served. It was fortunate we were not in a hurry because no one had come near us. Jayne decided to investigate and discovered that there was no food, just coffee. Curious. We set sail for the Mercato just around the corner.

Unlike our visit at lunch time earlier in the week it was much quieter. We wandered around to see what options were available and had a French style breakfast of pain au chocolat and espresso. In my case two double espressos. The lady who delivered the caffe offered sugar and when Jayne declined she said "I like you". The seal of approval from a local. Given we're competing with thousands of tourists, the bar is probably not set that high.

Back at the hotel we finished packing, wasted some time, checked out and walked to Santa Maria Novella for a 12:37pm regional train to Lucca. Regional trains are not fun, dear reader, because they have no walk-in space like NSW trains. There is an open area, without seats and either end of the carriage that has stairs to the seating area. The middle section has an upstairs and downstairs section. There is no storage area for suitcases. The luggage racks above the seats can take a small backpack or bag but even a carry-on suitcase would be too large. Fortunately our train was not crowded and we scored a seat at the beginning of the downstairs seats where the aisle is wider. Jayne sat on the aisle and held onto her bag to stop it from rolling away and I jammed mine in front of me.

Arty shot.

The train was about 10 minutes late arriving in Lucca and, as instructed, we gathered at the station bar and waited for Drew and Alex to turn up with the transport.

Not our villa.

The villa is set on a hill about 15 minutes from Lucca itself. Unlike many villas in the area, the render is not painted Tuscan gold but is a salmon pink colour. Drew told us on the drive that it has a 'wow' factor and it certainly does. The views across the valley are stunning. The downstairs area has the kitchen and lounge area as well as massive dining room and eating area off the kitchen. The two floors above contain the bedrooms, all with en suites, and other sitting areas.

The dining room.

Downstairs lounge area.

We had drinks al fresco before a delicious dinner of pork belly and baked veggies, before retiring for the night. I woke to the sound of thunder rolling across the valley. Breakfast was fresh fruit, muesli and toast with tomato or ham and cheese. It is impossible to go hungry on one of Matt's tours.

Al fresco drinking.

Al fresco dining.

Cooking classes in Spain last year were cramped due to lack of space. The kitchen in the villa is able to accommodate the 18 guests as Matt talks us through different dishes. Today we made a series of dishes that would be used throughout the week. Basil parfait, caponata, the sauce for chicken cacciatore, basil oil, gluten free orange almond cake, chicken ballottine, confit garlic, basil panna cotta, chicken liver parfait and other things I can't remember now.

The centre of the action.

The first community prepared meal.

The weather, which has been brilliant, turned this morning; rain and low cloud accompanied the thunder, so spending the morning in the kitchen wasn't a bad thing.

After enjoying the fruits of our labour for lunch, we all had some down time before the scheduled afternoon/evening activities in Lucca, including a wander around the town and a Puccini concert, a mandatory experience given this town is his birthplace.

The gate to the old town.

We loaded into the trucks and were transported the 15 minutes into town. Like many of the towns in Tuscany Lucca has a perimeter wall and the old town is enclosed behind. The town itself is deceptively large and our walk through and wander around didn't really do it justice. The streets are narrow and cobble stoned and lined with shops of all ilk. In the area we walked, via Fillungo, they were mostly name brand. There were churches on every corner and piazzas and restaurants and bars everywhere.

How unusual, a church with fresco.

As we walked into one piazza we could hear Billy Joel's Piano Man being performed by, we assumed, a busker. As we came closer we could see that the performer was dressed as Spiderman. While it wasn't overly hot he must have been melting in his suit. Piano Man on unaccompanied guitar. Interesting, but he made it work.

You had to be there.

Lucca looks like a town worth much more time than we have to offer this time around. There is a great deal to explore and a relaxed lifestyle to go with it.

The Puccini concert was a pianist and two singers, a soprano and the program said baritone, I thought tenor. The performance space was a church so the acoustics were amazing. They performed 9 pieces in all from different Puccini operas. He remains the most performed opera composer in the world. Impressive I guess. While I can appreciate the talent and the training and practice required, opera is really not my thing. That said, I wouldn't have missed it. You can't visit the birthplace of one of the world's most famous composers and not attend a recital of his work.

Back at the villa it was time for more food. A "light" dinner and a few glasses of wine before bed.

It's been a big two days. The best news is that we do not need to plan anything for the next week. Matt, Drew and Alex have everything covered.

Oh, I almost forgot the title of today's post, Suzanne Vega with Luka from 1987. Yes I know dear reader Lucca and Luka are not spelt the same, but hey, after 540 posts sometimes inspiration can be hard to find.

Alla Prossima.

Walking Man (Florence, Day 2)

No sleep in today, dear reader. The reworked plan has us down at the Arno in the morning and then visiting several churches across Florence and for diversity, a library, before ending up at the English Cemetery. A round trip of over 10km. At some point we are pausing for coffee and a bite to eat. And no doubt a beer around lunch time.

We were out the door at 8:30am. Oh, don't go on, dear reader; that's early when you're just attuning to a new time zone. The streets are much less crowded at that time of the morning, although the snaking lines of sheep following flags were still about. We were down by the Arno in no time to take some snaps of the Ponte Vecchio. You could clearly see how jammed it was with people already. The Santa Trinita bridge is supposed to be one the best spots from which to photograph the famed Ponte Vecchio. Maybe at dawn, or in the twilight hours. Otherwise you are shooting straight into the sun. I managed better photos last visit from further up river.

Ponte Vecchio from the  Santa Trinita.

Looking in the other direction.

First item ticked off the list, it was time to double back to the Sassetti Chapel, a hundred metres or so down the road. We stood outside the door to read the information panel. The most important part was: Closed Tuesday. Yes, it's Tuesday. Jayne was not happy. In the reorganisation of today's trek through Florence, she had studiously checked each website to ensure they were open and at what time.

Read it and weep.

Item 2 on the list. A big red cross. What we missed was a notable series of frescoes depicting the life of St Francis of Assisi. Maybe next time.

Not today.

On to our next destination which was the Biblioteca. Well, we were both English teachers in another life. The real reason this was a destination ... they have a café, thinking breakfast. Moreover, the café has a view directly across to the Duomo. After misreading the 'do not enter' sign on the lift, we trudged up the three stories. The people in the café were enthusiastic in their welcome and we settled on our order and went back outside and up a couple of stairs to the open area that looked across to the cathedral.

Worth the climb?

To be honest I expected more. The vista of the Duomo is vast and mostly uninterrupted, but I foolishly thought we may be higher and see more of the cathedral itself. Anyway, the panini were very good and the coffee most welcome. Checking the lift signage again I noticed, this time, that the 'do not enter' was in case of fire. Jayne caught the lift down to the ground floor.

Three down. Our next stop was the Basilica della Santissima Annunziata. The square outside the church has been used in a number of films about Florence. Inside the rather uninspiring building is an amazing opulent space. It had more than a dozen lavish side altars, the ceiling blazed with gold, the feature above the tabernacle was a silver construction and reflected light into darkened spaces. It was unusual and breathtakingly extravagant.

A fresco in the portico.

Looking towards the altar.

We waited outside for the service or singing practice to conclude before entering - despite the website stating it was open from 8:00am till 12:30pm, there were signs blocking access. As we were leaving as mass was about to commence and the 'do not enter' signs were back in place. I stepped aside as one couple just moved around the sign to enter the church and I'm pretty sure they weren't there to pray.

No idea who this is, but I love the sneer.

The baldachin (the ceiling fresco above the altar).

As religious fervour overtook me, we commenced our journey to our next destination, Sant'Apollonia. Things were going smoothly despite the rocky start, but Jayne's paper map is not drawn to scale and certainly doesn't show all the streets. So, we ended up walking quite an unnecessary distance because we followed the map. In the heat.

We arrived at Sant'Apollonia, the fifth stop on our list. It is the home to a cloistered order of Benedictine nuns. They have opened up the former refectory because it contains frescos and art works that are worth the extra effort to find. We were the only visitors at the time. The person overseeing entry was more than helpful and Apollonia the kitten was happy to see us too.

The resident cat Apollonia.

The main attraction was not the kitten (sorry Min) but a painting of the Last Supper by Andrea del Castagno. It was painted well before the famous da Vinci version and is considered the first Renaissance depiction of this subject matter.

The other Last Supper.

This concluded our morning meandering because our last destination did not open its gates until 3pm. We headed for the hotel and a watering hole on the way. The latter proved to be no easy task and we ended up in our 'eat street' 100 m from home. The young person serving was lovely and we chatted about our afternoon's destination and where we might have dinner, as we enjoyed our hard earned beer.

No need for a caption.

We had a brief respite from the sun, back at the hotel before setting out once again for the last attraction on our list. Perhaps attraction is not the right word. I did not know this place existed when we were last in Florence, although it certainly did. It's been there since the mid 1800s. I'm referring to the English Cemetery that I first heard referenced in the film Tea with Mussolini. It's most famous resident is Elizabeth Barrett Browning. You know, of "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways" fame.

The cemetery is about 1.5km form the hotel and Florence is flat so it should have been an easy walk. Except the footpaths are not really made for pedestrian traffic; they are too narrow. So it was a journey of ducking and weaving, on the pavement, on the road, cross the road, until we arrived at a massive road redevelopment. It was like a medieval castle moat and separated us from the cemetery.

From the entrance.

Fortunately there was a barricaded way through. It reminded me of the mazes we used run the rats though at uni (first year Psych). Once the traffic was negotiated, the cemetery opened before us and proved to be, well, underwhelming. It was smaller than expected - one side of a hill. It was also packed (with occupants, not tourists) and navigating between graves was no easy task. The gardeners had obviously been through recently with the brushcutter, but that was about the extent of the upkeep.

EBB's tomb.

Ms Barrett Browning's tomb was easily located to the side of the main walk. We had much more difficulty locating Edith Piaf in Père Chase in Paris. Old cemeteries always hold such interesting information about the time period, but not this one. Headstones were difficult to read and may have provided some information about the time period, but like those buried beneath, it was lost in time.

And that was our big day of walking. We clocked up around 12km. Which brings us to today's title, Walking Man by the great James Taylor. Man being used in a generic sense to encompass all people, of course.

The only thing left to do was dinner. After much discussion, we returned to Osteria de Medici, secured a table, ordered our food and watched the line of people queueing for a table grow. Dinner, a caprese salad, seafood risotto and wild boar ragu pappardelle, was excellent.

As we sat in our room that evening we were entertained by some live jazz music coming from the rooftop of a nearby hotel. Free concert. An excellent way to conclude a very tiring day.

Tomorrow we are in transit to Lucca to meet Matt and his team and the other travellers for our Tuscany food and wine tour. After a good night's sleep of course.

Alla prossima.