We woke pretty early on our first day in Lucca because of all of the Vespas whooshing through the puddles outside our windows. Nathan had his cantucci (mini biscotti), coffee, and cereal, and I headed up the street with my umbrella to the most delicious pasticceria in Lucca. It was filled with bellissima croissants, creme puffs, cakes, truffles, and so much more. With pidgin Italian (lots of per favores and grazies and possibly some pointing) I bought an apricot-filled croissant and finished it on the short walk back to the apartment.
We puttered around the apartment a bit, putting off heading out into the rain, until we thought of heading in to Florence to spend the day with Nathan's family who had just arrived there. Nathan's not usually wild about spending time in museums...unless it's raining. So, after getting in touch with them to determine how to meet up, we headed to the train station.
We got to the Uffizi and met up with Dean who took us to the rest of the family who were waiting in a delicious panini place (he claims it was overpriced, but it was a very tasty €8 panini). Then we headed to the Basilica di Santa Croce for the afternoon. (Dean and I headed off to buy a piccolo gelato beforehand).
Santa Croce was your typical Italian church: ornate, filled with paintings, frescoes, sculptures, and tombs. It's the burial place of Michelangelo, Galileo, and Machiavelli, to name a few.
Afterward we went for gelato (number 2 of the day for Dean and I. If you wonder why I rave about Dean's tour guiding, this might help explain it.) We headed back to the family's hotel for a bit before they headed out to the infamous dinner at Latini. Sadly, Nathan and I could not go because we had a train to catch, but we stopped at a little grocer's for salami, cheese, tomatoes, and olive-studded focaccia for supplies, and we picnicked on the train ride home.
Not bad for a rainy day in Italy.
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| It looked a bit different from this when we were there. The brightly lit windows were really welcoming in the gloomy rain though. Photo of Lucca Pasticceria by Barbara |
We got to the Uffizi and met up with Dean who took us to the rest of the family who were waiting in a delicious panini place (he claims it was overpriced, but it was a very tasty €8 panini). Then we headed to the Basilica di Santa Croce for the afternoon. (Dean and I headed off to buy a piccolo gelato beforehand).
Santa Croce was your typical Italian church: ornate, filled with paintings, frescoes, sculptures, and tombs. It's the burial place of Michelangelo, Galileo, and Machiavelli, to name a few.
Not bad for a rainy day in Italy.
2 gelatos in 1 day sounds like a great vacation to me!
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