As we opened our eyes on the morning of our third day in Italy to more rain, I tried to cheer us both up by saying, "At least it's not nice anywhere else we'd potentially be today. And at least we're not running a marathon," I said pointing to the poor bedraggled marathon runners passing our windows. It didn't help much really, but we got to planning anyway. Nathan's family was coming to visit Lucca for the day, so we had to figure out what our plans were even if the rain didn't let up.
I know Lucca is a lovely little town on a normal day. It's fully surrounded by huge medieval walls that are so wide that the top has been turned into a tree-lined paved pedestrian path with large green parks at each of the balustrades. In the rain, however, it has very little to offer. The cobblestones are uneven meaning you end up slogging through puddles you didn't really see ahead of time. The streets are narrow, which puts you right next to cars splashing by, and everything is grey, grey, grey. Poor Nathan was not getting the same glorious Italian experience I had had in college. He was decidedly underwhelmed.
We picked the family up at the train station and walked them back to our apartment. Everyone settled in for some tea and chatting, and I took my sisters-in-law and mother-in-law to the pasticceria for some breakfast goodies. My mother-in-law was in heaven (one of the many reasons we get along).
We eventually decided to venture out and walk the wall path even in the rain and while dodging marathoners. It was not exactly unpleasant, but we were all very ready to warm up at the pizzeria when we finally got there. We had excellent wood-fired pizzas (personal-sized in my opinion, but my father-in-law seemed to eye my putting it away with some awe-perhaps not everyone considered them so), and then headed back out into the rain again to see the Torre Guinigi, Lucca's main tourist feature (a tall tower with live oak trees growing from the top), generally wander around, and eventually play some huge chess.
Eventually, we made it back to the apartment and spent some time warming up and playing games before we headed back out into the dark for dinner. After a tasty pasta dinner, we sent half the group to brave the frustrations of Sunday train schedules in Italy. Nathan's sisters stayed the night since the four of us were heading to Cinque Terre in the morning.
Last three photos by The Sus
I know Lucca is a lovely little town on a normal day. It's fully surrounded by huge medieval walls that are so wide that the top has been turned into a tree-lined paved pedestrian path with large green parks at each of the balustrades. In the rain, however, it has very little to offer. The cobblestones are uneven meaning you end up slogging through puddles you didn't really see ahead of time. The streets are narrow, which puts you right next to cars splashing by, and everything is grey, grey, grey. Poor Nathan was not getting the same glorious Italian experience I had had in college. He was decidedly underwhelmed.We picked the family up at the train station and walked them back to our apartment. Everyone settled in for some tea and chatting, and I took my sisters-in-law and mother-in-law to the pasticceria for some breakfast goodies. My mother-in-law was in heaven (one of the many reasons we get along).
We eventually decided to venture out and walk the wall path even in the rain and while dodging marathoners. It was not exactly unpleasant, but we were all very ready to warm up at the pizzeria when we finally got there. We had excellent wood-fired pizzas (personal-sized in my opinion, but my father-in-law seemed to eye my putting it away with some awe-perhaps not everyone considered them so), and then headed back out into the rain again to see the Torre Guinigi, Lucca's main tourist feature (a tall tower with live oak trees growing from the top), generally wander around, and eventually play some huge chess.
Eventually, we made it back to the apartment and spent some time warming up and playing games before we headed back out into the dark for dinner. After a tasty pasta dinner, we sent half the group to brave the frustrations of Sunday train schedules in Italy. Nathan's sisters stayed the night since the four of us were heading to Cinque Terre in the morning.
Last three photos by The Sus
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