Saturday, August 6th to Friday, August 12th, 2022 - Respite in Lucca, ViaReggio and Cinque Terre, Italy

Knowing that my trip to Ladakh/India was likely to be very active travel, I had planned to follow it with my own mini 'Tuscan Sun' experience, in this smallish Tuscan town, Lucca. I was looking forward to staying here for two weeks - no more packing the bags and moving on for a while.

Lucca

I chose Lucca, because it is the birthplace of Puccini and has an Opera Festival not far away, featuring some of his operas.

Our AirBNB

I found a nice AirBNB that was sunny and well appointed - with three bedrooms! So invitations had gone out to both Robyn and Sarah to join me. How fortunate I am, that both agreed to visit in this little town. Robyn was with me the first week, then Sarah joined us both for the second week.

Madama Butterfly Costume - Puccini Museum

The lovely thing about having the girls with me, was that I could put my brain on R & R and have them be my tour directors. So the first outing with Robyn was a visit to the Puccini Museum - located in the house where he was born and raised.

View From a Window in Puccini's Childhood Home

Puccini's opera's are among some of my favorites - Madame Butterfly, Tosca, La Boheme - so it gave me pleasure to see where the composer was born and grew up. I particularly liked looking out this window to see the beautiful tones of Tuscan yellows and orange in the sunshine. I also learned that he came from a long line of family musicians in Lucca. His great-great grandfather came here in the early 1700's and became maestro di cappella of the nearby Cattedrale di San Martino. This musical position was then passed on to subsequent generations of his sons. Sadly, Giacomo Puccini's father died when he was only six years old. As a result he was too young to take the same job at the church - perhaps if that had happened, his operas might never have been created.

Puccini's Piano

I was surprised to discover that Puccini was a relatively modern composer. He was born in 1858, which sounds like a long time ago, and died in 1924, which sounds like only yesterday! He died of throat cancer at the age of 65 following his lifelong use of cigars - Robyn said he was rarely seen without a cigar in his mouth! Sad. He had not yet finished composing Turandot, so we may never know how i was supposed to end.

Cattedrale di San Martino - Lucca Cathedral

This is the cathedral that Puccini's family worked at. It is a large imposing place and about less than a ten minute walk from their home.

Narrow Pedestrian Streets

Lucca is a medieval walled city in Tuscany. It's history reaches back to Etruscan and Roman times, but the current structures in the town go back as early as 1160. It was organized as its own republic for a long time and resisted  invasion from neighboring states until 1799 when he French invaded. Being a walled city probably allowed it to be independent for this long time, but the limited space available for development also led to real estate pressure - hence the high apartments with the narrow streets. Many are closed off to vehicular traffic, but bikes, scooters and touristy 'surreys' for two or more to cycle, all travel the streets. Even without the cars they were hectic places to walk.

The City Wall From Outside (Photo by Sarah Lamp)

The wall is 2 1/2 miles long, is quite wide and is 30 feet high in some places. It encloses a rounded, roughly rectangular space with six portals or gates. Construction on it began in the mid 1500's.

Wide, Tree Lined Promenade Atop the Wall (Photo by Sarah Lamp)

The resulting space on top provides a lovely promenade around the city asnd is very well used. It is lively at all times of day - walkers, cyclists, runners, sitters, yogis, tourists etc. There are restaurants and cafes and in the evening we heard musicians performing for appreciative crowds.

Public Drinking Water Fountain, Via del Gonfalone

One of the other fun things about Lucca that I really liked were the many public drinking water fountains throughout the city. I read that they are spring fed and our AirBNB hostess told us they have better water than the faucets. I loved the idea that we were putting Pepsico and Coke out of business by refilling our bottles from these. This one was used night and day - people bringing large numbers of big bottles to fill.

Public Drinking Water Fountain, Via del Fosso

I visited all the fountains I could find one afternoon. This was my favorite, although at a later time, I found a more substantial statue elsewhere. 

Mineral Deposits on Faucet

In particular, I loved seeing the signs of ageing around the structures, like these colored mineral deposits around the mouth of the 'water god'? Elsewhere, there was much mildew, moss and the evident erosion of the marble from centuries of water flowing over it.

Viareggio Beach

We were only 30 minutes from the beach by train, so Robyn and I decided to experience the Mediterranean Sea at Viareggio. I can say I've never seen anything quite like the commercial congestion on the shoreline, although having shade and and a chair was nice. The water was murky, with brown algae floating about, so it did not get ranked high in my beach ratings. Fernandina is definitely better!

Ahh, Pinot Grigio at Last!

We also enjoyed a very nice meal at Gran Caffe Margherita in Viareggio. 

Corniglia - Middle Village of Cinque Terre

To eliminate the possibility of my becoming too lazy, Robyn also enticed me to take a walking trip through Cinque Terre, a collection of five fishing villages along the coastline that are joined by a rigorous walking path. In the past, these villages could only be accessed by mule, train or water. They are picturesque, with colorful houses, sweeping sea vistas and vineyards and olive groves hugging the steep hills surrounding them. A road was built in the 1960's and they became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997.

The Path Starts in Corniglia

 At the present time, the two trails between the three most southern towns, Riomaggiore, Manarola and Corniglia have been closed due to a landslide, so we began in Corniglia and headed toward Vernazza. As you can see, it was a pretty steep climb right off the bat! We set out from Lucca at 6 am for a two hour train trip to get here. We were hoping to beat the heat, which worked at first.

Looking Back at Corniglia, with Manarola in the Background

The villages were at sea level, but the path had to climb to find its way around the ridges running down to he sea. Most of the steep areas had steps, but I was glad I had brought my walking poles with me.

Typical Path

When we were in the shade it was a very tolerable temperature, but out in the sun, it got pretty hot, especially as the day progressed.

Olive Groves With Netting 

We walked past olive groves with their green nets ready to catch the crop as it falls.

Vernazza

The fist glimpse of Vernazza was pretty exciting. Although it was barely a few miles, the 600 foot elevation had challenged us. 

Caterpillar Tread Gets the Load up the Hill

Living in a steep place where roads don't exist is clearly a challenge. This little cart with the tank like tracks did a better job of it than my knees.

Vernazza - Cute, narrow, Steep, Colorful

Vernazza was a charming little town, for sure.......

Vernazza Crowds

.....but Oh, so crowded! There was not enough room in the streets for everyone. I guess the UNESCO recognition, Rick Steves, the road and train access has drawn the world to come here. After something to drink and eat, we were glad to get back on the less crowded walking trail to Monterosso, even though we'd lost our early morning edge.

Looking Back a Vernazza

Looking back at Vernazza, Robyn and I noted the amount of boat traffic and as we felt the sweat dripping down our backs, wondered wistfully if it might be a better plan to view these lovely towns by boat next time!

Railings Were Appreciated

It had been a long climb from Vernazza and as we approached Monterosso, the hillside became quite steep and in places quite narrow. Happily these railings provided some protection in the most vulnerable places, but negotiating our way past fellow walkers took co-ordination and co-operation.

Monterosso

Catching sight of Monterosso was a delicious reward, but we were dismayed at the array of umbrellas lining the lovely beach. 

Beautiful, Clear Water

As we got closer, we noted the beautiful water below - no murk or seaweed there! We made another note to selves - 'Bring swimsuit next time!'

Monterosso

By the time we arrived here, we were pretty spent. The distance had not been far, only 2.2 miles, but again the nearly 600 feet of vertical climbing in the midday heat had taken its toll for we flatlanders!

A City Gate in Lucca

We were happy to find the train station and make our way back to Lucca. Soon, Sarah arrives and our opera experience begins.