Volterra I

We left Lucca and drove to Volterra. 

The drive was fine, once we got out of Lucca. This is notable because we picked up the rental car outside the city walls. Non residents are not allowed within the city walls. However, when I told Taylor to follow the gray car onto the roundabout,  he followed a different grey car into the town walls. Well, it's not that easy to get out of Lucca, once you drive in.  It is a maze of very narrow one way streets.  We drove multiple times through the same streets trying to get out, all the time squeezing through streets lined with stone buildings.  Thanks to Taylor's skilled driving, Jamar's navigational skill using Google Maps, and common sense, we finally made it out of Lucca and then enjoyed an easy drive to Volterra.

Volterra is an Etruscan hilltown, completely surrounded by walls.  We had reservations at a former convent, Chiostro delle Monashe, which is outside the city walls.  We all looked forward to a peaceful stay with the nuns. Our convent is a 20 minute walk, uphill, to Volterra.

View from my nun cell.

Taylor and I, and John and Bruce each had a cell on the inside of the convent.  We were all facing the cloisters.  We arrived on a blistering hot day and our rooms were cooking.  We each had one small window.  None of us had air conditioning.

Margit, on the other hand, had a single nun cell facing the country side.  I think her room was the same size as our double rooms, but she had one bed and 4 windows.  Her room was cool, breezy and filled with Tuscan light.  She had the room with a view.

Margit could see Volterra in the distance.

Margit's room with a view.

I have to add, that Margit totally deserved her lovely nun cell.  She had spent several nights in both Rome and in Lucca, in rooms with nonfunctional AC.  She really needed a few good nights of sleep in a little luxury, such as living in a nun cell can be called luxury.

Frescoes in the breakfast room.

Breakfast room.

The cloister, where we ate breakfast, or sipped wine in the evening.

We moved into the nunnery, now it's time to explore Volterra.

Monteriggioni

This morning we left our nunnery, Chiostro delle Monache in Volterra, to drive to Villa Madalena in Montisi.  Since John and Bruce have previous experience driving in Italy we were glad to let them lead our two car caravan.  We were approaching the small hill town of Monteriggioni where we planned to have a rest stop when........................

this hay truck got between our car and John's.  Would we be able to follow John to Monteriggioni, or would we become lost in Tuscany?

Fortunately, thanks to Google Maps, we were able to navigate without proper visibility, and eventually caught up with John and made it to our destination.

Monteriggioni is a very small hill town, complete with wall and towers.  It is a great example of a 13th century town, built to defend Sienna's southern border from Florence.  It was also a safe stop for pilgrims making the trip from Canterbury to Rome.

Outside the walls.

Inside the walls.

Modern day pilgrims.

The Ladies of Lucca

Evening chitchat on a warm summer evening in Lucca.

"Why you come to Lucca?"

The waiter at dinner last night exclaimed, "Lucca, why you come to Lucca?"  He was happy when I said, "To have dinner with you."  He then proceeded to give me a kiss - on each cheek.  It seems that the people in Lucca don't understand what a treasure their town is. Here are a few of the reasons to visit Lucca.

Walking the walls - Lucca has not been involved in a war since 1430, so it's walls and buildings are perfectly preserved. The wall is 2 1/2 miles long and it seems that it is everyone's backyard.  People are always walking, biking, picnicking or just sitting on the wall.  We joined in and and walked like locals.

Some modern art on the wall.

These cardboard ostriches were tucked into one of the tunnels under the wall.

Female angel.

One of the entrances to Lucca.  The wall extends on both sides of the city gates. Some only allow pedestrians.

There is a maze of tunnels under the wall.

Good Food - finally some food to write home about.

Excellent music - every night there is a Puccini concert at San Giovanni Church.  I went to two concerts, Taylor went to three.

Giacomo Puccini was born in Lucca.

There is a concert every single night of the year at the Church of San Giovanni.  Each concert featured 2 singers and a pianist.  Different music each night.

Churches - There are many churches in Lucca - all of them filled with the most amazing frescoes, paintings, sculpture, and architecture.  We visited many but not all of them.

Here is an example of some remodeling in a church.  A new chapel is being installed over an existing arch. This is the Church of Santa Cecilia.

Like most of the churches in Lucca, Santa Cecilia has beautiful frescoes.

This Madonna and child are so sweet.

San Martino Cathedral is the main church of the Republic of Lucca.

Church of San Frediano.  Hardly anyone visits this lovely church.  I was actually in it alone for quite a long period of time.

The altar is very simple, but the chapels on both sides of the church were quite fancy.  I love this simplicity.

 

I hate when tourists take photos of paintings, but here I am. I did it.  I love this painting and I justified my behavior as being acceptable because I was the only one in the church.

Friends - While there are many aspects of Lucca which are charming and alluring, one of the things I really enjoy is being here with friends.  After the frenetic pace in Rome, learning to relax in Lucca with friends has been lovely.

Our first night's dinner in Lucca with John, Bruce, Margit, Taylor and Jamar (the photographer).

Relaxing at the Pfanner Palace and Garden. We spent most of our time in the gardens just like this.

"Lucca? Why you go to Lucca?"

When we were in Rome, people would exclaim, "Lucca?  Why you go to Lucca?" when they heard our next destination. We weren't sure why we were going to Lucca, except that we wanted to experience more of Italy than Rome.  Now that we are here, I will tell every one who hasn't been that they should go to Lucca.

We have been in Lucca for perhaps 3 days.  It's hard to keep track because we have gone from the frenetic pace of Rome, to a frenetic first night party in Lucca, to utter relaxation.

Lucca is a walled city in Tuscanny.  We are staying at the Palazzo Busdraghi right in the heart of town.

Our front door.

We arrived mid afternoon on a train from Rome.  We hired a taxi to take us to the Palazzo.  Several hours later our friends John and Bruce arrived from Seattle.

The first night was a little rough.  It was the annual "White Night" which means that everyone stays up all night and makes lots of noise.  Actually, all the shops are open, museums are free and there are concerts in all the public squares. While we were joining the party in the streets, the festivity was fun.  However, once we went to our rooms to go to bed, and the party continued, it lost it's charm.  The chaos didn't quiet down until 3:00 am.  People were wandering out of town at 5:00 am when Taylor took his morning walk.  The music was so loud, blasting into our windows that at one point I looked out the window to see the people dancing.  Boy was I surprised to find that no one was dancing, just walking down the street.  Why the music had to blast from the corner by our hotel, I have no idea.  Taylor, of course, slept through the entire night.

View from my room around 1 am.

View from my room around 2 am.  Why aren't these people dancing?

Needless to say, the next day Margit, Taylor, John, Bruce and I were all a bit groggy, but Lucca is the kind of town where it's okay to be groggy. If you come to Lucca, you can avoid the groggy feel by avoiding White Night.

Selfies in Rome

We had many wonderful experiences in Rome.  We saw a large assortment of the major tourist destinations, many of which involved great art.  Rome was hot, and crowded with tourists.  Most of the tourists were busy standing in front of me taking selfies.  As a matter of fact, we noticed that the sculptures were even taking selfies.

Borghese Gallery, Rome

Mothers Are Full of Surprises

It never occurred to me that my mother Alice might have an interest in Rome.  It seems that she must have.  She seems to be everywhere.

Our first afternoon in Lucca I was sitting in a cafe, looking for an internet connection, and look what I found:

Then, this morning as I was walking down the narrow alley that our hotel is on, I saw signs of Alice again.

I think this goes to prove that mothers are full of surprises.