"...Excellent Field Trip..." Post 5

Lucca

Good morning, gentle readers!

We appear to have a repeating glitch in whatever plans we make--and here I am using the aggregate we of our framily.  Our intentions the night before are always very good.  We'll get up early tomorrow so we can get going, as our home is within driving distance of many beautiful locations in the Tuscan countryside.  

Then one of two things tends to happen.

1. A contingent, usually a large contingent, pulls out a game or cards and refills the wine pitcher and the night morphs into the next day and getting up early is not the viable option it appeared to be a couple hours prior.

B. A contingent, usually a sizeably smaller contingent, does get up early the next day and convenes on the patio with coffee and a variety of breakfast options (we have cleaned out the local bakery of its wares) and starts talking and the early morphs into oh, let's say close to noon before more people are up and everyone says, I should take a shower.

Which is how we ended up driving through the hillside over to Lucca yesterday rather than Siena, the previously intended destination.

Not a bad option, eh?

Obligatory photo of the narrow Tuscan streets, where at one point, I actually hung off the side of a building in order to avoid being run over by a very nice Audi which was driving at usual Italian speed (fast) through the street.  The driver did wave a grazie at me.  (The Germans are no better and don't get me started on the scooters.)

This church reminded me very slightly of the Duomo.

We hadn't visited a church yet, so did a quick visit to the Blessed Mother and Child...

...where I lit candles for our family.  It took a while and 
cleaned out my entire collection of Euro coins.

Here's what happens when you're thirsty.  This IS the water fountain.  The bubblers we are accustomed to in the states must have done something very naughty over here because they are banned from any public spaces.

McB used to work for the Des Moines Metro Opera and since Lucca is the birthplace of Puccini, we required her to pose with this statue of Puccini and then toured the Puccini Museum, where we were chastised when we slid our way onto what turned out to be a private tour.

The Torri Guigina Tower with trees growing out of the top of it.  One can walk up the stairs to view said trees up close and personal, if one so chooses.  We declined... 

...instead deciding to basically walk in a circle on the famous Lucca walls.  When we got back to the starting point...

...this gate, Jeanie was not at all pleased to discover we had walked in a circle rather than walking to the car because it was about a gajillion degrees outside.  This is my public apology to her as it was my bright idea to keep walking: "Let's walk on the wall!"

As I write this, there is considerable movement to get us out of the house for the drive to Siena.  More to come.

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