Lucca

When planning my trip, I sent out a few Facebook messages to a couple friends who had been traveling before, asking for trips and recommendations. One friend who had been all across Italy told me her favorite place had been the small town of Lucca, which is about an hour's train ride West of Florence. Our travel guidebook also gave high praise on account of its beauty and charm. I was sold, and convinced Brit to go along with me.

Regis welcomes you to the city of Lucca

Lucca is most well known for the wall that surrounds the entire city center. It was built during WWII in the event of an attack....which never came to this specific location. The result is a beautiful wall in perfect condition! It now acts as a huge raised park around the town. Lush green grass, tall trees, and a lovely bike path are main features, and a big tourist attraction.

Taking the little monkey out for a spin. 

The walls of Lucca are sort of an oval shape, so the city inside ends up sort of layered, like an onion. In the heart of the town is the amphitheater; a reminder that this was once a Roman settlement. There are no togas here now...just a lot of restaurants and tourist trinket shops. I ate some risotto and bought my tacky "I ♥ Lucca" t-shirt there...really only because I didn't pack enough tops though, I promise!

You might recognize this place if you've been watching the food network lately...
specifically the  Filippo Berio olive oil commercials!

While there isn't a lot to do in Lucca, per se, there is plenty to see. The little town is a great place to get lost in. Those twisty roads that don't make any sense are very tempting...you always want to see where they are going to come out. And just when you think you have it figured, you end up somewhere new!

It is also incredibly scenic. We took pictures of everything! From markets, to street lamps, to the views from the wall, and of the wall!

To those who are RENT fans, Lucca is the hometown of Puccini. I know nothing about the musical or the music that inspired it, other than I heard some beautiful opera in a store that was all about this guy.

Another tourist draw.

There were very few cars within the walled part of the city, as the cobblestone roads were quite narrow, and it is such a small town that it is more convenient to travel on foot, by bike, or one of these...

I've vowed to myself that someday I will own a Vespa.

While there are obviously a lot of tourists staying in the city, I got the feeling most of them were still Italian! Lucca had a very laid-back, vacation-y sort of feel, as opposed to the bustling souvenir-buying, landmark-ogling, camera-toting (that's me!) feel of Florence. Since there's no real big attractions, most people skip this place for somewhere like Rome. I'm glad we didn't. 

The downside of it being a holiday-er destination was that eating out was quite pricey, and not necessarily any good. The aforementioned risotto was forgettable, and I had a terribly disappointing and expensive tiramisu (I saw the server defrost it in the mircrowave!!! I'm still not over it.). That being said, there are some mean gelaterias around, like Geleteria Veneta, where you can also get decent panna cotta or tirimisu for 2.50 EURO. That, and their coffee is good, and cheap! 1.00 EURO takeaway, or 1.50 EURO to stay in.

Our favorite meal in Lucca was our own little picnic on the wall, hands down. Tired of spending money on overpriced pizza and pasta, we decided to go shopping for our own antipasti.
We wandered down via Croce, and bought some deli meats, cheeses, olives, pesto, bread, and sundried tomatoes for a delicious feast.

The ultimate in budget travel meals!

It was soooooo delicious! I even tried the olives, and liked them. Some things can only happen in Italy. 

We loved Lucca so much we even cancelled our reservations for our first night in Venice so that we could stay longer! There is still so much more I could write about it, but I'll have to do that another time...

Or you could just go there yourself...which I highly recommend :)