Lucca Love at Sunset

From atop the wall, Lucca is amazing. 

The Pisan Mountains ( part of the Apuan Alps) that divide Lucca from Pisa are visible all around. As the day light moves across this range, the mountains sharpen from the hazy blur to a crisp outline, from a soft pale blue to a gray green, to a velvety blue gray as the evening sets in. Inside the wall, the city, too changed color and vibrancy with the changing light.  The wall is an active place with people circumnavigating the city.   Some walk jovially chatting as they walk, others run or bicycle. Families share a “tandem” bike which looks more like a carriage allowing four pedalers (Caribbean like).

The wall awakens early with walkers and stays up late. From our kitchen  window, we can see the people passing until we are drawn to join the nightly passeggiata.

Looking down from the wall we are learning our way around more, finding the more efficient or more picturesque path to the piazza or the store.  The day traffic builds in the afternoon and quiets again as people take a break for an aperitivo. We are determined to find a favorite. The cafes have their special twist on a drink and serve a varied assortment of snacks to wet the appetite.

While we rested with a wonderful apertivo in the Piazza San Fredianni, listening to a very talented busker, singing Cold Play and U -2 and Shawn Mendez with a few Italian love songs thrown in,

we experienced one of our favorite travel moments… a local wedding. There are 101 Churches in Lucca so you cannot go far without stumbling upon one (they rival Dunkin Donuts in the New England).  As we sat near the church, the guests congregated on the steps awaiting the exit of the bride and groom… the bride and

groom shyly  exited the church to cheers that echoed through the square attracting the attention of the cafe patrons as they heralded the couple with what must have been 4lbs of rice! This couple is destined to be prosperous and fertile!  The photos on the stairs were taken and the guests began to depart.  Now comes the best part… we have seen weddings in Paris and in Vernazza on our trips…and we are suckers for the walk of the bride and groom.  This couple begins the procession through town and is celebrated by the strangers who are also taken in by a happy moment! Tanti auguri! Applause and well wishes… everyone feels hopeful and positive.