Lucca

I’m not sure how we ended up in Lucca for a day, but I’m glad that we did. Lucca is small town just northeast of Pisa that just happened to be about halfway between our stays in Firenze and Cinque Terre. The town is surrounded by a 30 foot stone wall on all sides that spans a total of 4 kilometers and only has four entrances for cars and a few other walking entrances that snake up through the wall. There are maybe four or five roads that cars use and the vast majority of travel is done by bicycle. While the wall was initially designed for protection, it now has a beautiful running and biking path that provides a bird’s eye view of the town from all directions and has become a focal point for locals and tourists alike. Our hotel had some free bicycles so we decided to explore the town and the walls by bike which was a welcome change for our legs from walking around Roma and Firenze. We enjoyed the gentle breeze and beautiful sunshine as we peddled around the walls, talked to a retired couple who travel for 3+ months every year (mom, dad this could be you now that you’ve got your feet wet!), and saw the coliseum that has been converted into apartments. 

For lunch we enjoyed a tasty combination of meats and cheeses from a small meat/sandwich shop with two of the nicest women you’ll ever meet running the place. After ordering two amazing sounding sandwiches and Sammar telling the head woman that she was her biggest fan, we saw a meat platter come out and I immediately had second thoughts about our order. We asked them if it was possible to switch our order, which they were glad to do, and we asked if we now owed them more money (since we had already paid). The other woman looked at us and simply and beautifully said “con calme”, directly translated to “with calm” or “don’t worry”. Given her love of the Italian language and the simple yet powerful message that encapsulates one our biggest learnings on this whole trip, this is now Sammar’s favorite phrase. 

As the evening arrived, we enjoyed a bottle of wine(thanks mom and dad!) atop the wall while watching the most hilarious exercise class ever with men and women ranging from age 10 to 85 and a massive speaker blasting inspiring tunes.

While in Lucca we learned that it was the home of the famous Opera composer Puccinni, and every night of the year there was a stripped down opera performance featuring Puccinni’s music at the Church that he played the organ in as a child. I’ve steered clear of opera thus far, but figured if there was any time to check it out, this was probably it. 

The performance featured a two singers, a baritone and a tenor, as well as pianist standing just in front of the alter of a simple yet ornate church constructed with a unique combination of marble, stone and brick. The first singer was a little on the heavy side, had a rounded face, scruffy goatee, and was wearing a tuxedo with a popped collar.

I was hesitant… but then the guy opened his mouth and it was like “holy sh#$, this guy can sing”. In the small church with just over a hundred people in the crowd, his voice absolutely soared, giving you chills every time he reached for a high note. My favorite was his second song which he ended with a note that never seemed to end and required so much effort that as the note ended he had to catch a splash of saliva that had drooled out of his mouth. It was perfect. The second singer was more properly put together and acted about as much as he sang, but nonetheless was also a phenomenal singer. While I have no point of comparison, Sammar said that she had never heard a baritone that could project his voice like this guy. All I know is that when he belted certain notes you could actually feel the reverberations in your ears, crazy. All in all, it was a really cool experience, especially in such a small and unique setting.

We finished the day with a delicious Italian meal at a local restaurant (actually the restaurant this night was terrible, but the night before was awesome, so we’re just going to forget about when it occurred). The meal featured our first ravioli with meat sauce and a phenomenal stewed beef with potatoes and the necessary liter of vino rossi del casa. Our waiter was awesome, and this is actually where we learned of the Puccinni concert from an American woman sitting next to us that was travelling and taking Italian classes. Lucca was a great pit stop for us and a surprise highlight of our Italian experience.