Lucca

 


This morning we had to say goodbye to beautiful Rapallo!  I really love this seaside town and hated to leave.

We left our hotel at 8:30 under cloudy skies.  We travelled further down the coast, along the mountain side, once again driving through many tunnels.  We passed by the mountain that contains the Carrara Marble Quarry.  Marble has been coming out of this quarry since the days of Michelangelo! Hard to imagine!

We were headed for the city of Lucca but we got word that it was raining there so we killed some time by stopping at an Autogrille for a drink or snack.  These truck stops have a little bit of everything!!

When we arrived in Lucca at 10:30, the rain had stopped.  We met up with our local guide and she took us on an interesting two hour walking tour of this lovely walled city.  We had a couple of very short lived showers during the tour.  When we were here four years ago it poured rain and then actually hailed!  When our tour ended, we had the rest of the afternoon free.  The sun had come out by then so most of us found an outdoor cafe to sit and enjoy a leisurely lunch.  Of course, there were plenty of shops and sites to check out.  Some people used the time to walk around the old city up on the wall.  All in all, it was a very pleasant and relaxing day.

We regrouped at 4:00 and travelled the final 30 minutes to our new destination, Montecatini.  We checked in to the amazing Grand Hotel Vitoria, very elegant!!  It is situated beside a beautiful, large city park. We had the rest of the evening free.  Many of us met up with Laura later to do an orientation walk to learn our way around the town Centre.  Then we enjoyed dinner among the various restaurants  and called it a night.

Ciao.




























Z




























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