We are several days into our stay at Lucca. The weather has been perfect, as has everything we have done. Against my better judgment we have taken to “wall walking.” Lucca is known for its intact Renaissance-era stonewall. The “wall” is about 3 miles around and circles this historic city.
With that said, you can climb either steep steps or gradually paved sidewalks upward to get to the top of the wall. From there, you can enjoy walking, running, or bicycling the entire city while viewing both old and new Lucca and the surrounding mountains.
Here we go….
So, every night around 10:30 p.m., Travelers #2 has decided “we” need exercise.
“Let’s get up around 8 a.m. and head up to the ‘wall," Traveler #2 says.
Always the agreeable wife, I say, “Sure!” I make sure I am turned toward the wall when I finish the sentence…”Like THAT’S ‘gonna happen.”
The next morning, around 11:30 a.m., we rolled out of bed. It takes us about an hour to get out the door.
You can walk in any direction to the wall, duh, as it circles the city.
Here is the problem. By 12:30 p.m. every ship that has ever sailed in Europe or the U.S. had docked in La Spezia and transported their thousands and thousands of passengers either to Florence or to Lucca.
Did I mention the streets in Lucca are like six inches wide and most of the travelers are either British or American, and I don’t have to remind you of how big they are, (including us.)
Well, you remember us riding the sausage bags down the elevator in Florence?
Yeah, that is us trying to wedge ourselves down the crowded alleyways toward the “wall.”
It’s all good once we get there, as the tourists and their stick-holding guides will not attempt the climb. Instead, they stay at the bottom of all the ramps looking skyward with those wishful faces that telegraph, “I wish I didn’t have to follow around this really boring group to see a bunch of buildings I can see on YouTube. Please? Can I come with you?”
Traveler # 2 stands on the wall and waves like he is the Queen of England. They wave back like he is, too! Then we walk. Let’s just say our “wall walks” have been going on for days now and we have managed to get about 1/12 of the way around. I have figured out Traveler # 2 doesn’t really want to walk, he just wants to be noticed.
One thing that has noticed him is the flies. I have taken to carrying a flyswatter on our walks. Gives me a reason to hit him when he’d acting up. I just whack him and say, “Fly.”
He falls for it every time though his bruises are not healing as quick as I’d hoped. I decide back off for a day or two.
The sightseeing we have done has been limited to peering into churches. Lucca is known as the “City of 100 churches.” Incredible artwork, but few people, except maybe for the dead ones displayed in glass cases at the front of the church. Rough way to fill a church, but they are quiet that way. And need they really have to have a sign that says “Silence,” when you enter? Seriously. That corpse shut me right up.
We are trying loads of new foods. Yeah, believe that if you will. How many ways can you say “Margarita pizza?”
I have realized I might be allergic to all of that cheese and tomato. My lips have swollen to the size of Kim Kardashian’s butt and I haven’t gone to the bathroom in 8 days.
Traveler # 2 has a similar situation. It is good on his end though, as it has stopped his nighttime bathroom trips. His legs are a bit swollen, so I don’t let him walk near rose bushes as if they burst I am NOT paying for the flood damage.
Otherwise, all is well and we are enjoying the relaxation we need.
Oh, I did think I had found a Pickleball game to join in on. They seemed to be one player short. I was all over it until I realized it was three old guys fighting over an olive pit and the rackets they were using were loaves of bread. They about beat each other to death. The guy who eventually got the pit was using day-old bread.
Gave us a good laugh! Loving the life that visits us every day here in Italy! Enjoy along with us!
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