Lucca

After arriving in Lucca two days ago, Brenda and I have done little more than eat, drink, and recover from our jet lag.

Well, that's not entirely true. On our first day, we signed up for a walking tour detailing "Five Secrets of Lucca". Although it t sounded intriguing, in reality, it was not terribly interesting. Our guide (Sergio) who had a doctorate in the history of the region, and was clearly well versed on the subject, but his less than perfect English, and his tendency to stray from the topic at hand, made the tour a bit of a snoozefest.

Nonetheless, we learned that Napoleon Bonaparte's two sisters, Elisa and Patricia were instrumental in bringing Lucca into the modern age and out of its poor-cousin reputation.

Sergio pointed out to us the Labyrith that was carved into one of the columns of the Cathedral's portico in the 12 th century, which, he claimed, inspired Dante to write the Divine Comedy.

The Cathedral has a very quirky facade, in that all of its columns are decorated differently. According to local legend, the city announced a contest for the best column, then took all of the entries without paying the artists. The Cathedral is also home to a wooden crucifix, that tradition claims, was carved by Nicodemus, a contemporary of Jesus, capturing Christ's actual likeness. Art historians date it more prosaically to the late 8th or early 9th century, but its significance transcended questions of provenance. The Volto Santo made Lucca a major pilgrimage destination, drawing travelers from across medieval Europe.

The other major religious site here is the San Michele in Foro basilica, built in the 11th century, which also bears four tiers of unmatched columns. I haven't found any explanation as to why this building's columns are unmatched, but one has to assume that both structures had the same architect.

Our guide later delved into the life and times of Giacomo Puccini, who was born in Lucca. His image and name appear in various places all over Lucca, and even the names of his works, particularly Turandot, appear even on street signs.

The food here in Lucca has been amazing. Of course, no one does pizza and pasta like the Italians, and we've indulged considerably in both. Last night, we capped off our evening with a bowl of Gelato, and today, we hit a pastry shop and picked up a few goodies to end our take-out pizza-by the-slice dinner. All components were excellent. We washed our take-out pizza down with a bottle of Morellino di Scansano, a Tuscan wine we rarely see back home.

Lucca is surrounded by a four-kilometer-long defensive wall, eighty meters wide, that now serves as a walking/running/cycling path around the city. This morning we walked around the circuit to try out and get accustomed to the trekking poles we bought yesterday. We were both pretty clumsy at first, but we got the hang of things pretty quickly.

Tomorrow morning we start our 419-kilometer trek to the Vatican, with our first stop, Altopascio, 18.5 kilometers away. We're both well rested and eager to begin. The beautiful Tuscan countryside is calling us.Read more