The four of us reluctantly left Castelvetro di Modena on Good Friday, heading back to Tuscany and the walled city of Lucca. There are several routes to accomplish that journey, but none more scenic than SS12. The road twists and turns while climbing the Apennines to the summit at Abetone. From there SS12 continues its twisting and turning through sleepy mountain towns until reaching the coastal plane near Lucca. We stopped for lunch at La Casina in Abetone, and we saw people skiing!
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| Ristorante La Casina |
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| Snowy mountain stream in Abetone |
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Ski rental shop
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| Gary and Jill in Abetone... |
As we descended toward Lucca, we stopped at the so-called Devil's Bridge, thought to date to the 11th century. It was spared destruction in WWII because the German army thought it was not wide enough for vehicular traffic....
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| The view from the bridge |
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| A great place for a selfie... |
We stayed in Lucca for four nights over the long Easter weekend. Lucca is an amazing city, the Old Town is surrounded by a wide Renaissance era wall. There are several ancient entrances to the Old Town. To access our hotel without violating the ZTL, we had to use Porta Elisa...
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| The Renaissance walls... |
Here's Jill on the wall after completing her three mile walk to Save the Manatees...
Lucca sights.....
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| Anfiteatro of Lucca... |
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| San Michele, atop his namesake church... |
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| Sam Michele in Foro, Lucca... |
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| Typical pedestrian street in Lucca... |
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| Nice detail... |
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| Duomo of Lucca... |
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| 12th Century Basilica of San Frediano... |
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| More detail... |
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| Beautiful arch with mosaic at night... |
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| An Ape delivering gelato... |
Our accommodation was Hotel Ilaria, which has two facilities - the main hotel and the tower. Our rooms were in the tower...
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| The main hotel... |
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| The tower... |
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| The breakfast room... |
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| And the patio... |
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| Lovely view from the patio... |
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| The arch near our hotel... |
No visit to Lucca would be complete without attending a Puccini opera concert. Giacomo Puccini was born in Lucca and composed there...
The concerts are held nightly, every night of the year, at the Church of San Giovanni...
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| A thrilling performance... |
We had some excellent meals in Lucca, including at....
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| Ristorante Cantine Bernardini... |
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| and Osteria Vispateresa |
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We had never seen an upside down table
as a ceiling light! |
The day after Easter is called Pasquetta (Little Easter) in Italian. Everyone is off from work, and we decided that would be a good day to drive to Pisa. The weather was spectacular. There were big crowds at the Field of Miracles, where the Leaning Tower, the Duomo, and the Baptistry are located...
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The entrance to the Field of Miracles...
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| The entrance to The Leaning Tower... |
We secured tickets to go inside the Duomo, which was amazing...
Lucca and Pisa were amazing. The weather, the hotel, the sights, and the food were all spectacular. We had a great time. Four happy travelers, sad to leave Lucca, but looking forward to Menaggio on Lake Como. Cheers!
Click on any photo to enlarge.
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