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.

Sunsets (Sydney - Manila - Muscat - Rome)

It's that time of the year again, my dear reader. Time to pack our bags and head overseas. So, this post is mostly text with a few local Redfern photos added for colour. The destination of choice this year? Well, it's a little bit of this and a little bit of that. First to Italy via an overnight stop in Manila and then onto Egypt to check out the tetrahedrons and cruise the Nile.

In order to fly Business Class and not spend a fortune, there are some tricks. By comparison, current flights from Sydney to Rome return, with the national carrier, cost around $19k each. However, by flying with a tier 2 airline that is a part of One World, you can still score Qantas points and in some case status credits. We are flying with Qantas to Manila and staying overnight, using accrued points at hotel in walking distance of the airport terminal. From there, we fly with Oman Air to Rome via Muscat. These flights are listed as First Class, but according to a seat tracker I use, they are actually Business Class. Cheers to the US where Business Class is not understood.

The complicating factor is the return flight because of the side trip to Egypt. Again with Oman Air, we fly from Cairo to Muscat and then Kuala Lumpur, connecting with a Malaysian Airlines flight to Sydney. The cost, you enquire? Just over $6.5k. The cost of both our fares is less than our 'beloved national carrier' charges for one. Booking flights from a hub in South East Asia significantly reduces flight costs and allows you to fly in comfort at the pointy end of the plane. Don't say you weren't told. And while I organise much of our travel, I leave the flights to my wonderful agent, Luvena at Enperso Leisure Travel (luvena@enperso.com).

A random Redfern sunset across the train station.

As is our custom, most of the trip is self-organised and built around some group tours. We have about 7 weeks in Italy, including a food and wine tour of Tuscany with the marvellous Matt Dillow of the Deck Café and Gartelmann Wines in the Hunter. He operates Matt's Food and Produce Tours. We had such an excellent time with Matt on the Catalonia tour last year, we are backing up for a week in Tuscany (and next year, we will be joining him in Malta).

Aside from that, we are visiting Rome (obviously), Florence (just because), and places we have not previously been: the Lakes District, Milan, Bologna, Bari, Lecce, Matera and finally the Amalfi coast, basing ourselves in Sorrento. It is a slower journey than usual except for airport transit stops like Rome, with a minimum of 4 nights anywhere and a maximum of 9 in Sorrento.

Another Redfern sunset. Eat your heart out Santorini.

The visit to Egypt and the pyramids is not something I thought possible for us until TravelMarvel decided to offer a Nile River cruise with time in Cairo. We thought the pricing was reasonable so we added it as a side trip on the way home from Italy.

I write this a week before we fly out and already we are experiencing some challenges. We have pre-booked a number of tours and visits to places that require tickets well in advance, while still leaving time to immerse ourselves in the locales where we have chosen to stay.

An early morning from the hill top, Moore Park.

Airline ticketing has proven to be the biggest hurdle. Re-scheduling meant changing our original journey home from flying through Jakarta to KL instead. Then Malaysian decided to swap us onto another flight home, forcing us to stay in KL for the night. Finally that flight disappeared altogether and our trip was going to finish in Kuala Lumpur. Thankfully Luvena was onto it and all has been rectified. The benefit of using a travel agent for complex flights is obvious. I am now checking the Qantas website daily.

As we prepare to depart our homeland (4 big sleeps to go) I often reflect on how, in Australia, we consider ourselves to be international players, or wish to be. Then I watch the news and despair. Today, aside from real estate prices, the big story was the official opposition in Australia wants to make burning the national flag a crime. Seriously! In a time when there is a cost of living crisis, rampant homelessness and devastation related to climate change is out of control, those who aspire to lead the country wish to start yet another culture war. FML. 

Check out the vibrancy.

And then there is the new addition to Moore Park. The Lord Mayor of Sydney and the populist State Government decided it would be an excellent idea to rip off 6 holes from the public golf course and make it public parkland. Apparently it's a new "vibrant addition" to the precinct. I'm pretty sure there would have been more golfers using it than the average punter. I had it all to myself this morning. More serenity than vibrancy.

Anyway, we're leaving the back country politics and mindless culture wars behind very soon. My next post will probably be from Italy.

Today's title is linked to my sunset photos. Hyperlinking the song is experimental. I had issues last trip with "community standards" which I assume was to do with copyright. Therefore, if the Sunsets by Powderfinger isn't hyperlinked you know that is what the problem was.

Alla prossima.