Sant'Anna

We woke up to a beautiful Easter Sunday. After having our delicious crostada and espresso for breakfast outside on the terrace, we got ready for church. We walked a couple of blocks over to St. Anne’s church. We walked in right at 10:30am. It was packed. Gabe and I found 2 seats on a bench along the side wall. Andrew and Renee stood in the back. The church was relatively small. The pews only held 4 adults. Maybe 5 if you wanted to squeeze. Mass was of course in Italian. We have been to mass in Italian before and what is cool about mass is that the order of mass in any language is the same. So you should know what’s happening no matter what the language is. The best part was communion. In true Italian fashion, it was chaos. Everyone just rushes to a person handing out communion. There is no order or waiting for the pew in front of you to go. It was so funny. On our walk home we stopped to get some hot focaccia bread. We also picked up a few fried snacks. We piled into the car and drove to Pistoia. A town about 40 minutes away. We met Vitto and her family for a light lunch. It took forever. We tried a new green vegetable called Agretti or monks beard in English. It was delicious. We walked around Pistoia and it started to rain. We decided to go and visit another town can San Miniato. It was set high on top of a hill. Thankfully we were able to drive up and park close. We walked to the top were the bell tower is. There was a nice grassy space for the boys to play soccer. The sun was starting to set and it was time to make the drive back to Lucca for Easter dinner. Our Easter dinner was a very Italian Easter meal. First we had a long pasta with a white Parmesan bechamel sauce and fresh peas, then we had a baked pie with fontina, speck and potatoes. It was amazing. I want to try this when I get home. Our 3rd course was rabbit, lamb, and vegetables. We have gotten to try so many new vegetables on this trip. After dinner we had 2 very traditional Italian Easter desserts. A egg made out of chocolate and covered with pistachios. And a Columba. Which is a bread with some type of fruit filling. It’s a very light filling on the top. We had a great time cooking and talking with our friends. The boys all get along so well and its nice to see their friendship grow. We plan to see them again in Como before we head home.Read more