Lucca, Italy

~The DiSimo Cafe-Lucca~

Some have asked me why Lucca is part of my blog name. Lucca, Italy is a walled village in the Tuscan region of Italy. I have been very fortunate to visit Lucca on three occasions. The first was several years ago after my niece graduated from college. She was spending a month in Europe and my sister and I met her in Nice, France and then headed to Italy. On what was going to be just an over-night in Lucca to meet friends for lunch, we fell hard. It was right in the middle of high summer season in Italy, but we were smitten. So we spent the better part of our vacation in Lucca.

~Via Fillugo, Lucca~

I think perhaps I fell a little harder than my sister and niece, but we all loved it and had an incredible vacation. The people are friendly and helpful, the food and wine amazing, and I felt safe, comfortable and 'at home' there.

Lucca is the birthplace of the composer Puccini and there are signs of his music everywhere.

~The Amphitheater-Lucca~

Two years later my niece found a reasonable flight for us during Christmas and New Years, so off we went again. We rented a lovely apartment right off Via Fillungo, the main 'avenue' inside the wall. It was another wonderful trip. This time we spent a day in Cirque Terra {not nearly enough time}. New Year's Eve in Lucca was a village that came together to celebrate a new start and I have never known a New Year's celebration as festive and full of glee.

Two years after that trip, my dear friend Kathy and I went to Lucca for 12 days. We visited Cinque Terra - again for only one day {not nearly enough time}, we walked, we shopped, we drank good wine, we met interesting people and had the adventure of a lifetime together.

Lucca is a special place. My hope is to plan a vacation in Lucca for my husband and I. That is if I can get him off a river long enough to join me.

If you visit Italy and find yourself in the Tuscan region, make time to visit Lucca. I'm pretty sure you won't be disappointed.