Lovely Lucca, an Excursion from Florence

What a wonderful surprise! Lucca is the perfect small-town, adorable ancient village of Tuscany.

We booked a train ticket from Florence to Lucca with one change of trains. Or so we thought. We got off the first train and ran around looking for the platform for the 2nd train. After hunting down a ticket seller, he told us our bus is about to leave outside the terminal and down a block.

TV trivia: For those of you who have watched The Amazing Race reality TV show, we felt like we were on that show. When we plopped down in one of the few seats left, we had mixed emotions. Either we just beat all the other couples who thought the 2nd leg was a train…OR we were dead last.

We had a few choices to explore Lucca: walking or renting bicycles. Mathis pointed to a big, red 4-wheeled bicycle for two people to pedal side-by-side. It was a blast. However, we got off to a rocky start since my passenger side of the bicycle had a fake steering wheel. I had no control, and it was killing me. Plus, a few times Mathis had to ask me to pedal, especially going uphill. Geez! The nerve! I capitulated.

First, we cycled around the rim of Lucca’s fortressed wall. Then, we coasted downhill and cycled through the town. Although there were many tourists, we were able to explore narrow, cobblestone streets and stand in the middle of the ancient Amphitheatre.

I was shocked to see that a major music festival occurred in Lucca in July, featuring John Legend, Just Bieber, and more.

Yes, we added another church to our list.

Bye, lovely Lucca!