Monthly Archives: May 2016

Return to Bagni di Lucca

26 Thursday May 2016

Posted by in Return to Bagni di Lucca, Tuscany

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I am back in one of my favorite places – Bagni di Lucca in Tuscany.   It is just as beautiful as I had remembered.

The weather has been very changeable with a few days of winter and then perfect spring days. The nights are still cold but the days are warm, sometimes hot, and gorgeous.

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Views from the apartment.

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Here in Ponte a Serraglio, a village in Bagni di Lucca, our day always starts with coffee and a pastry at Il Monaco, in the piazza, which is only a minute walk from the apartment.  It is always a friendly and social event with the constant “buongiorno ” and “ciao ” as my new friends are always popping in for their morning coffee. It is a very pleasant and civilised  way to start a  day. Something I could easily adopt into my every day living.

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Our day usually ends with an aperativo across the piazza at Bar Italia where once again it is the constant  greetings of “ciao”and “buona sera” with  friends. There is always someone to sit with, chat and enjoy a glass of vino. I love this time of the day. We can stay on for dinner or head off, either back to the apartment or to one of the local restaurants.

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Occasionally we have eaten lunch at Bar Italia where they make a wonderful Mediterranean salad.

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View from the bar.

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So much of the socializing is in this piazza where Bar Italia and Il Monaco are, with always many familiar faces and some new ones. There are many expats living or staying for extended periods of time in the area so for us non-Italian speakers there is  plenty of English spoken.

This is a truly delightful area to spend time.

 

 

Changing the Flowers on the Bridge

24 Tuesday May 2016

Posted by in Changing the Flowers on the bridge

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The bridge in Ponte a Serraglio, Bagni di Lucca,  always looks delightful with its many pots of colourful flowers.20160524_151730Twice a year, Debra changes the flowers.

I was lucky enough to be here this time and assisted with the replanting.

We took out the beautiful yellow and purple pansies

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And replaced them with red geraniums.

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Of course the new plants are suffering with a little bit of shock but they will lift up their little heads in the next few days.

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Next day. Already lifting their heads

 

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It is now 3 days later and they are looking much happier. The weather has been hot and sunny which they love, plus they have had plenty of watering.

These gorgeous flowering pot plants which are on both sides of the bridge add the finishing touch to Bella Bagni di Lucca

 

 

 

The Apartment in Lucca

20 Friday May 2016

Posted by in The Apartment in Lucca, Tuscany

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I arrived at the apartment in Lucca, took one look at the stairs and sighed!!!! After 36 hours of travel from Australia I felt too tired to climb them. But. There was no choice, no elevator, just stairs to climb. Luckily a very good person carried my suitcase up the stairs for me as I struggled up. It turned out there were only 2 floors up to our apartment.

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We then walked down a short hallway to the apartment. I was happy.
Often when you book your accommodation on line, the photos can be very misleading, but, in this case the photos were true. We walked in to the entry which lead in to the large eat-in well appointed kitchen. Also leading from the entrance was the large nicely furnished lounge room/dining room.  The 2 bedrooms were also large and there were 2 bathrooms.
This was our home while staying in Lucca and we were delighted.

 


We often sat on one of the large window ledges just lapping up the sights and sounds of Lucca. I could never tire of this.

 

We were able to come and go easily and it did not take long for the 4 flights of stairs to become a lot easier. In fact they were probably a blessing after our pasta, pizza, wine and gelato which we enjoyed on a daily basis.

These tiny round fixed windows in the lounge room  fascinated me. I am not exactly sure of their purpose.

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Small Non-Opening Windows

If you have the time when staying in Italy, think about renting an apartment.

I highly recommend it

Lost in cyberspace

20 Friday May 2016

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Hello everyone
It seems that my post on The  Apartment in Lucca has gone missing.
When I hit the  publish  button,a  message came up saying that there was an error. Then I lost connection.   I  have lost my entire post. Very frustrating.
I  will need to re write the post which I will do one day soon.
Lyn

My Birthday In Italy

13 Friday May 2016

Posted by in Birthday in Italy

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Before leaving Australia for Italy, I was undecided as to whether I would celebrate my birthday in Australia or in Italy.
The decision was made when my cousin phoned me one day to say that they would be in Italy in May. We then worked out where approximately in Italy they would be and where I would like to be and then chose to rent an apartment in Lucca. And consequently celebrate the birthday in Lucca.
The next question was, what shall we do on the day. For me, not a difficult decision, I wanted to do an Italian wine tasting tour. Everyone was excited to do that. So we chose The Chianti Wine tasting tour.
We were picked up in Lucca by the tour director and coach driver. After driving for about an hour or so we arrived at the Sommavilla farmhouse and boutique winery which is not far from the village of Vinci. Sommavilla is a 30 hectare property producing wine and olive oil. 20 hectares of olive trees; 10 hectares of vines.

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Upon arrival it was almost easy to forget why we were here, the Tuscan views were breathtaking.


We were met by the owners who firstly gave us an interesting insight into olive oil production before a short tour of the wine making area.


Afterwards, we went outside and sat at long tables where we were served generous glasses of their own local wines. Along with a tasting experience of the typical Tuscan ‘antipasto’: which included bruschetta with delicious extra-virgin olive oil and tomatoes, salami and pecorino cheese and their locally grown olives.

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We enjoyed their crisp white wine, followed by 2 red wines and a fabulous true chianti wine. Chianti wine must contain 70% of Sangiovese to be called Chianti.
This was followed by the grand finale Vin Santo which is a sweet dessert wine and served with cantucci – a sweet biscotti which you “dunk” in the vin santo


After several hours, along with our new wine tasting friends, we re joined the coach and travelled back to Lucca.

A great time was had by all as we sang our way home

Back in Italy

04 Wednesday May 2016

Posted by in Back in Italy

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To be exact, Lucca

Yes, I am here.

2 days ago I flew out of Brisbane bound for Roma, Italy.

I arrived in Rome early yesterday morning. I had booked a driver to take me directly from the airport to the Roma Central train station, Termini. 

As we drove through the streets towards termini, I sat back, taking in the familiar sights, listening to the Rome radio station that was playing softly on the car’s radio, and I smiled. It felt good to be back.

It did not take long to arrive at the train station as it was still very early,  but once arriving, I knew I was alive. The crowds and the noise and the sheer excitement was almost overwhelming. Termini is a very daunting and busy place especially if you are out of practice and also travelling with luggage.  I am sure that many of my fellow travellers understand

About an hour and a half later my train arrived, La Frecciarossa.  It’s destination,  Milano, with my stop Firenze (Florence) on the way. The Frecciarossa is a very comfortable and very fast rain.

As we sped through the magnificent country side at about 200+ kilometers an hour I just relaxed, sat back  and took a few photos along the way.

An hour and a half later we arrived in Firenze. After purchasing my train ticket for Lucca I went to have a light lunch as I had almost 2 hours to wait for the next train.

Then it was on to the local train which stopped at every station between Firenze and Lucca. It sure is an interesting way to take in the local way of life.

After a short taxi ride I arrived at our lovely apartment which is within the walls of beautiful Lucca.

It feels good. I am back.