Camaiore to Lucca, by bus. Our hotel in Camaiore showed there was a bus to Lucca scheduled for 9:30 am. There we stood from 9:00 o’clock on. 9:30 arrived….no bus. 9:40….no bus. A few choice swear words clouded the air as we crossed the street, already planning how to spend our time while waiting for the next bus. As we crossed the street, a bus pulled up. The driver opened his window, stuck his head out and hollered “Lucca?” Long story short, including some running in front of traffic, the driver getting out and beckoning us to get on, we were on our way.
BUT….not directly to Lucca. First, to the Lido Camaiore. I got to see the beach after all!
Still lots of dark clouds…
We arrived in Lucca before noon. Found our hotel and set off to explore this beautiful city. The historic center of Lucca is surrounded by a Renaissance era wall, built in the mid 16th to early 17th centuries for defense purposes. It has been repurposed into a public promenade. As we walked the 4.2 km around it, I was reminded of the 5+ km Stanley Park promenade. It has the same feeling to it with walkers, dogs, kids, bikes..!
Tunnels to go through everywhere….under the walls…under streets…to get you to the top of the wall. And into the historic center. Lucca is the birthplace of Puccini. We were going to go to a concert until we discovered the tickets were 30 euros each….a bit steep when you don’t really care for opera!
We went to find an old Roman Amphitheatre but it is now simply a piazza, filled with restaurants and tourists. We stopped there to have lunch. It was sunny and warm….quite simply, lovely. Even with being unused to all the people.
Some other sights….
All in all, a very good day of touristing.
ENIGMAS 