Jan and Bo's Tales From The Mediterranean: Lucca

Being in Piemonte is always a joy. Being in Piemonte during the fall wine and white truffle festivals is a dream come true! It is with heavy hearts that we move on. The weather is agreeing with us-from sunny and high 70’s to 50’s and complete white-out fog overnight. It makes everything soft and misty, quietly hushed. The hazelnut groves are shrouded in the mist and look like creatures from “Mars Attacks”! We make our way south, to Liguria. Just on the outskirts of Genoa (Genova), The sun breaks through and we have a complete view of the Bay of Genova and the Ligurian Sea!! The water and sky are the same color and the horizon is simply awash in azzurre.

Lucca is a city that we visited 3 years ago, on our way from the Cinque Terre to Firenze (Florence). We only spent a few hours and vowed to return. Now we are here overnight. Lucca was a part of the Roman Empire from 180 BC. It is Italy’s most impressive fortress city-despite the fact that it has not been involved in a war since 1430. There is a perfectly intact wall that still surrounds the city. This is a WALL! You can walk around the entire city. The wall is as wide as a highway! Such a sight to see and then to look out. Lucca has a population of around 90,000 and numbers 70 churches. That is a pretty hefty ratio! One of the most beautiful is the Cathedral of San Martino. It hosts gothic arches, Renaissance paintings and stained glass. In the style of the 11th century, the exterior is of striped white and gray marble and matches the interior columns. The ceiling and nave frescoes are still bright and colorful. Truly, one of the most beautiful in all of Italy!

Unlike when we last visited Lucca, we had enough time to partake of an event that is unique to Lucca. We attended a one hour concert of Giacomo Puccini’s operas, at Chiesa San Giovanni (which is the family church of the Puccini’s). Lucca, being Puccini’s hometown, is now home to the world’s only permanent festival-Puccini e la Sua Lucca (Puccini and his Lucca)-celebrating one of the greatest opera composers of all time. While we haven’t ordinarily been big opera fans, it was an extraordinary event, nevertheless. Jan’s father, Ralph, would have been pleased and very surprised! This one’s for you, Dad-just wanted to make sure you knew that she loved it! The tenor, Stefano Cresci, was simply incredible. How does any person voice such range and power? As an aside, our limited Italian actually allowed us to understand some of the lyrics.

We ended the evening blown away by the music and the food afterward. We had dinner at Al Corso. It was recommended to us by a local chef. Mama Mia!! What a fabulous treat! Every part of the menu was local and organic! We had a local Sangiovese wine which was fruit forward and yet soft, with a very long finish. A new love! We split a warm seafood salad which had so many Mediterranean delicacies. Bo, of course, had the Bistecca and I had suckling pig-cooked almost 24 hours! I have never, ever in my life had such pork!! I am going to work on this recipe at home. I may have to build an outdoor spit! Worth it!

So, we have traded hazelnut groves for olive groves. We are ready for new adventures in Toscano and think Toscano is ready for us!! Our favorite agriturismo, Cosona, has welcomed us home with open arms. I just want to cook and drink in the countryside of this amazing part of this amazing country. So blessed to be able to spend so much time here!

No More of Our Favorite Road