Friday, August 12th to Saturday August 20th, 2022 - Opera at Torre del Lago and More of Lucca

 Giacomo Puccini moved to Torre del Lago in 1921 after his mother died. He had been surrounded by scandal due to his affair with a married woman, Elvira Gemignani. The lake was remote at that time and offered the couple quiet refuge. Puccini also loved duck hunting which the area offered. Puccini later married  Elvira and composed many of his operas here, even taking notebook and pencil with him when out in his boat to record ideas that arose from being in nature's beauty. 

Torre de Lago (Photo by Sarah Lamp)

We wanted to hear some of his operas and set out for our first one within minutes of Sarah's arrival in Lucca. We arrived at a perfect time to also appreciate its beauty.

Gran Teatro Puccini, Torre del Lago  (Photo by Sarah Lamp)

The theatre, Gran Teatro Giacomo Puccini, was conceived in the 1930's, inspired by a quote from Puccini himself that he would like to come here to hear one of his operas in the open air. This led to the creation of the Gran Teatro Giacomo Puccini which is outside and located near the Puccini Mansion in Torre del Lago, about 30 minutes from Lucca.

Robyn & Sarah Enjoy an Aperol Spritz

The performances start at 9:15 pm, in order to allow darkness to descend, but our transport from Lucca brought us here around 7:45 pm. We were here to see Turandot, one of Puccini's more popular opera's, known for it's aria, Nessum Dorma, which has been made famous by tenors like Pavarotti and Bocelli. It means 'no sleep', because the whole city in the opera had to stay awake trying to find out the hero's name. We too, had to hope we had 'no sleep' until it was all finished in the wee hours of the morning, but starting the evening with an Aperol Spritz seemed the Italian 'thing to do'!

Stage for Turandot (Photo by Sarah Lamp)

I was surprised to learn that Puccini died before he finished this opera. As a result, the last 20 minutes were written by someone else and the libretto was set to music by a third person, following Puccini's notes. While the music is lovely, I did find some aspects of the plot dissatisfying, especially at the end. I'm not going to bore you with the details of the whole thing, as I know you can Google it, but it left me with an itch of wanting it to have a different ending. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turandot

Full Moon over Gran Teatro Giacomo Puccini (Photo by Sarah Lamp)

We enjoyed watching the moon rise over the stage - it was very lovely and added to the story, but we also watched in a little alarm as lightning started to appear, too. We were pretty exposed and I was curious to know how the instrumentalists would protect their precious instruments if it did start raining. Within five minutes of the ending, the sprinkles began. We had no umbrellas, there was no shelter, and the bus was about 1/4 of a mile away, so when half of the theatre got up and started to leave, we joined them. I felt really badly for the singers, who probably did not get much of an ovation at the end. Happily, the rain did not come down heavily, so no one got drenched. The following weekend we also enjoyed Tosca and La Rondine and the skies stayed clear, although there was an announcement at the beginning of La Rondine, that in the event of rain, the opera would continue with a piano accompaniment! I guess the instrumentalists must have big umbrellas!

A Shopping Street in Lucca

Being a relatively small town, Lucca allowed us the leisure of focusing on just a few small outings. 

A Gelato Moment (Photo by Sarah Lamp)

We were not here to shop at the many popular and exquisite clothing, leather, shoe and other stores, but we did join the hunt for the next restaurant or gelato shop to try, in addition to breads, cheeses, wines and delicious fruit for snacks or light meals at 'home'. 

Piazza dell'Anfiteatro (Panoramic Photo by Sarah Lamp)

One of the most popular places for eating was the Piazza dell'Anfiteatro, an elliptical ring of multi story residences who's shape outlines a Roman amphitheater that was built in 200 BC. It was refurbished to its present form in the 1830's. The ground level is home to numerous restaurants and was always a hive of activity. We ate at several fine restaurants here.

Carriage Rides in Piazza dell'Anfiteatro (Photo by Sarah Lamp)

The carriage rides we saw in the Anfiteatro reminded me of Fernandina Beach, where I live, but we can be glad that Fernandina is not drawing the huge number of tourists that Lucca does, even though the Tourist Development Council would like to see us become more like Lucca!

Charming Side Streets

While the mostly pedestrian shopping streets were often crowded, it was not hard to find charming side streets, with few people....

Delightful Courtyards

.....or delightful courtyards with walls that must have great stories to tell!

Lucca City Walls - Basement

We discovered that under the walls of the city were dungeon-like basements, some of which were open for exploration. This one was quite extensive, with branching hallways and side rooms. 

Sarah Found Some Toys!

They were built for storing military supplies and probably also for food in the event of a siege. I read that they were also a way for tsoldiers to make surprise sorties outside the city without opening the gates. The rooms we saw were now empty, except for odd items that looked as if they might have been part of an art installation. Sarah had great fun with the giant wicker balls we found.

Torre Guinigi

We visited the Guinigi Tower, which is about 150 ft tall and required climbing 233 steps to get to the oak trees growing on top. It is one of many towers built by wealthy families in the 1300's, but few others have survived the passage of time. It was used as a  residence, with the kitchen directly under the garden on top. While it must have been handy to get the produce from the garden, perhaps it wasn't so much fun getting in the rest of the supplies!

Sarah & Robyn At Torre Guinigi

It was the perfect time of day to be atop Lucca and see the spread of the city. The streets are so narrow, it is hard to get a feel for the layout, so the view from the tower was a refreshing change. You can see several other towers to the right of Robyn.

North-West View From Torre Guinigi

This view shows the yellow buildings of the Piazza dell'Anfiteatro in the lower right, the line of trees on the City Wall behind the church on the left and the view toward the Apuan Alps.

Buchette del Vino or Wine Window on Via Santa Croce, Luca

We also went in search of 'wine windows' here. Better known for their existence in Florence, nearby, we were pleased to locate three of them here in Lucca. They were started in the 1400's as a form of 'direct marketing' from the wine producers to commoners as a tax-free perk given by Cosimo de Medici to appease the wine producers unhappiness with his power. The windows became particularly useful during the plague that swept through the area in 1634, allowing social distancing that protected both seller and buyer.

Close up of the Buchette del Vino on Via Santa Croce, Lucca

 None of the windows in Lucca are operating now. This was the most attractive one we found. It really was a medieval form of 'drive through' wine shopping. The vendor passed out a metal paddle or scoop to get the money, the coins were dipped in vinegar to kill the germs and the flask of wine was then passed out to the customer on the paddle. In our time of Covid, the system made perfect sense and we delighted in discovering and relating to the people nearly four centuries ago who were also trying to adapt to the terrible pandemic they faced.

Museo della Tortura, Lucca

When Sarah and I proposed a visit to the Torture Museum, which was just a few blocks from our place, Robyn had the good sense to stay away. For 10 euros we were shown devices that were used in torture and detailed explanations on how they were used.

Do You Really Want to Know What These Were Used For?

It was fairly horrifying to learn of the way humans have treated each other in attempts to control, punish and extract 'secrets' from others. A redeeming feature of the experience was relief that we no longer live in fear of these particular forms of cruelty in our lives, though many of the displays said there are still parts of the world where some of these practices are still used today. 

After about ten minutes, I felt I had received sufficient value from my 10 euros and felt just a little sick. Fortunately, Sarah felt much the same, so we left without having taken in every display. A little Googling tells me here are many of these museums throughout Italy and I even saw one advertised in St. Augustine, Florida, not far from us. Worth a visit? You will have to decide!

White Laundry

A photographic quirk I enjoy, is capturing images the different ways that people dry their laundry in other parts of the world. In an attempt to shake off the grunge feeling from the Torture Museum, I'm going to share some laundry photos for you now. This one demonstrates how marvelously the Tuscan yellows show the beauty of the white sheets and towels.

Colorful Laundry

But even the colorful laundry flying in the breeze looks lovely, too.

Just Across the Street

And finally, I enjoyed this line up which was on the wall opposite our apartment for a few days. I think it was the drape and color of the purple polka dot towel that reached my heart!

Night Falls in Lucca

Our time in Lucca was a lovely mix of activity and rest.

Sarah and Robyn

Having both Robyn and Sarah together with me in Lucca, made the experience even more enjoyable. They were both great tour guides and I felt very spoilt having their energy, ideas and travel skills to enhance my time here.

An Interesting Bud Vase

So, I say kudos to my daughters and leave this Lucca blog with a flower, not only for them, but for you all, too! You deserve it if you've read this far! LOL!