September 24th – 26th

An incident-free trip to Lucca mostly via autostrada but also on some minor roads…on the way we passed Carrara. where for centuries marble has been quarried, the pure white “statuario” grade was used for monumental sculpture due to its high tensile strength, in addition, it could take a high gloss polish and hold very fine detail”. By the late 20th century this had now run out, and the considerable ongoing production now is of stone with a greyish tint or streaks of black or grey on white. This is still attractive as an architectural facing, or for tiles. Pics were taken on the go from the car but show where the quarries are…

We then stopped at Viareggio a seaside resort…interestingly so many places in Italy have historical import…even seemingly innocuous towns such as Viareggio which in 1822,  began to prove its potential as a popular tourist destination, with Napoleon Bonaparte’s sister (better known as Paolina Borghese) deciding to take a holiday here. Viareggio immediately became a fashionable resort, so much so that in 1828 the first bathing establishment was opened! This type of seaside resort is not our cup of tea but it clearly is enjoyed by zillions of Italians and a fair smattering of Brits given the signage. 

There are dozens of pool and beach clubs like the ones below (cabanas, pool, kid’s play area, and loungers lined up almost to the sea shore) :

This town was not on our list to visit but with time to kill we stopped in for a look-see and then had lunch at Jack’s  Qualita & Gusta:

 

 

….you guessed it a burger joint on the promenade…a nice change which stoked us for the balance of the drive to Lucca.

Our AIRBNB in Lucca was inside the city walls, so by definition inside a ZLT, with our experience in La Spezia we entered the zone with some trepidation through the Porta Santa Anna, but it is cleverly structured so that you enter the zone, “park ” safely, transfer your luggage to your rental unit and then move the car to a parking lot, outside the ZLT. Our host met us at the parking lot, showed us the unit, told us where the “free” parking was and then we were on our own >>> 3 tries to get to the parking lot > not a single curse came out of my mouth: not,  and the Captur was parked for the next 2 nights… all good !! Then a 12-minute walk beside the town walls, through the Porta San Donata and we are home …

Attractive accommodations and more importantly perfectly located to visit the town >> location, location, location as the real estate pundits say… we really like this town, what a pleasure to just walk the streets and take it in..not a ton of heavy weight cultural sites to visit, but a wealth of history and simple in your face niceness…click pics to enlarge:

…..there are some 100 churches in Lucca and we saw a number of them….so many are truly outstanding:

Church of Saint John and Saint Reparata:

San Frediano Basilica

Duomo di San Martino …

San Michele Church …the frontage is totally amazing:

The walls surrounding the town are some 4.2 km long, with the original version built by the Romans in the 2nd century BC….the fourth version was later turned into a full-blown public park in the late 1800s. Today people bike, walk, run, and picnic on this interesting green space….a nice walk during which to contemplate our visit…

…the original Porta from Roman times, now a tourist info center;

Two days can pass rather quickly when everything has been smooth sailing….pictures below of the sights and sounds of this extremely pleasant town to visit…