Lucca Part 3 - Day 10

A lazy morning at the Villa as we drank coffee and talked about family and life events.  Great conversation and we are all fortunate to have reasonably good health, allowing us to enjoy life to the fullest.  

Kelly had passed along my boarding passes for our flights to Victoria tomorrow... a sure sign that the holiday was ending!

Hugh & Simone finished up some building business and we decided to head back into the walled city of Lucca and do some additional exploring. We have probably only seen about 20% of the inner city itself and want to check out some of the things we have missed. Talk of a bike ride for all of us around the top part is a possibility. 

We headed off and eventually found a parking spot near the previous bike store. We know this area pretty well by now! Kelly had the parking app going and it was quickly paid.  Love technology when it works :-) 

We walked into the city and with rain forecast for later in the day, we elected to go for a bike ride around the wall of the city. This was not just any ride... we rented a 4 person pedal bike for an hour. It was my first driving experience this trip and we managed to safely navigate the entire wall without any trouble. We also made a couple stops for a geocache along the way. It was a lot of fun!

It took us about 45 minutes to pedal around the entire city and it was pretty stress free as we enjoyed the perfect temperature of 20°C with virtually no wind. We dropped off the pedal bike and asked the attendant where the best place to eat within the walled city was? He was quick to point out that Buca di Sant'Antonio was "the" place to eat.

 Off we went in the general direction with Kelly bopping in and out of several shops along the way.  She spotted a neat little electric Fiat in her colors! They still look goofy to me.

 She picked up a few items then joined up with us at the restaurant's entrance.  Hugh and Simone had already been seated downstairs but we soon caught up with them.  The overall ambience was very nice and the food did not disappoint, although Hugh's cod was overcooked. He regretted not sending it back... as it should have been perfect. Afterwards the waiter chatted about all the royalty and celebrities that have dined at the restaurant over the years... being as the place opened in 1782 I suspect there have been plenty!!!

 

Dessert!

 We had a leisurely lunch and then walked around the town to work off the food. Simone wanted to revisit the tower with the trees (Torre De Palazzo Guinigi). We thought about hiking up to the top but decided against it. The rains that we saw on the radar had dissipated and it remained a nice day.

 

Just a door to an apartment complex!

Hard to believe but there are no less that 27 churches within the walls of the city. Next we walked towards the Cathedrale di S Martino and took a look inside.  It is a great piece of history, both inside and out. Following are the pictures I took as we approached and entered the building.

Pipe organ!

We came out amazed at the quality of the displays and the condition of the building.  Even the building next door looked fantastic. Italy did not disappoint us!

 We headed towards the car and then the Villa for the last time on this trip to Italy. A quick stop at the gas station for some diesel to ensure no issues in the morning. 

Back at the Villa we relaxed with a bit of blogging as Kelly headed upstairs to start the packing process... luckily her bags were still half packed from the trip here :-) Once she was done, it was time for some crib. 

Simone had taken up position on the couch and watched some horror show and  we could hear screams intermittently from the living room! Hugh skunked Kelly right off the bat and the second game, although closer, went to Hugh again. He is on a two day roll... and clearly loving it! :-) 

Dinner was cancelled because we were all stuffed from lunch. We did snack on some crackers, cheese & other leftover items in the fridge. I headed up to pack my bags and had that done in under 10 minutes time.  

Kelly decided that crib was out so we had a game of Five Crowns... which Hugh narrowly beat me by 7 points! Arghh  Looks like this will be continued next year with the Inaugural Pacific Old Boys Club Crib Off & Five Crowns Championship! 

I finished up the blog and then headed up to bed... remembering to set my alarm for an early get up. We plan to leave by 8 a.m. tomorrow morning and should be at the Florence airport around 9 or so.