Awake early we left the apartment to find a caffe bar with coffee and brioche. Margie and I got the giggles over something I had done and you could hear us all the way up the street – Dana and Doris thought we were nuts. It was great to have a good belly laugh. We headed towards the Anfitheatro, only to discover that these particular restaurants are lunch/dinner and not breakfast. Finally we found a little cappuccino bar and satisfied our caffeine craving.
Now we are off to find the street market that is happening today. We bumped into Alessie, our landlady, and she pointed us in the right direction. Now you can imagine, setting 4 women free in a market that sells everything from veggies, to chicken, to leather purses, clothing right down to bras and nighties. And the prices were all quite reasonable which started a shopping frenzy. None of us were immune to the lure of the great purchase.
Thankfully, before we got in too deep, we realized it was definitely lunch time and we veered away from the market and found a lovely street cafe for lunch. It took awhile to receive our meal because it is all made from scratch and the difference is amazing. The quality and freshness of the food reminds me of the food we ate when I was a girl.
Bellies satisfied it is time to carry on with our touring of this gorgeous city. For the most part we followed the city walking tour and discovered all sorts of wonderful old churches, towers, nooks and crannies. Every corner had us in awe. We started to wane a wee bit and b-lined for the bus ‘station’ to purchase our ticket for tomorrow’s trip to Pisa airport. There, that’s done.
We now took a short cut back towards our apartment as were we getting very close to Pinot Grigio time. We walked along the path on the walls of the old city, and marvelled at the history on both sides of the wall. Coming from a country with such a young history, to be amongst structures that date back to the Roman times of the 2nd century B.C. is incredible. After many photos and oohs and aahs, we arrived back and found a great shop for olive oil, biscotti, balsamic and other treats to bring home. Oh yes, the heavier the suitcase, the better – ha ha.
We stopped at the same wine bar in the Anfiteatro and had our Pinot Grigio amidst shopping sprees here and there. After all, today is our last opportunity. We then went back to the apartment to drop off all our goodies and change in to some of our newly purchased clothing. We are now off to search for a restaurant for dinner.
Having thoughts of Dana’s wonderful pork chop last night we did the unthinkable – we went back to the same restaurant. It was very full but they found us a table and we were as happy as clams. Margie and I had the pork which was a good as last night, Dana had a wonderful ravioli and Doris, the adventurous one, had wild boar. We didn’t linger long as they needed our table so we had dessert at the Gelateria next door (listed as the best in town). I do LOVE it here.
Again we meandered the streets and bumped into Alessia again whilst admiring the 2000 year old walls of the Anfiteatro. From here we walked back to the apartment giggling over something one of us said or did. Another wonderful day in Italian paradise!
Our last day, Sept 25th, consisted of a bus ride to Pisa which was lovely, and then a series of security checks, flights and finally arriving back in Vancouver.
It is always sad to end such a lovely vacation but a good time was had by all and great memories and friendships formed. Who could ask for more!
For Lucca Photos see: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152293734851887.1073741924.593681886&type=1&l=83a1a413c4