the curious crumble: Meet My New Lover: Lucca, Italy

Piazza dell'Anfiteatro.

Oh…my…Lucca. I am absolutely in love with this Italian city. I should preface that sharing all that’s great about this place is very hard to put into words. I spent most of my day speechless, enjoying a walk down open simple streets. There’s nothing really “to do” here; but, even so, visiting Lucca, exploring the many small piazzas, left me thoroughly satisfied and happy. Everything from the weather, sites, walks, food, and company made for an indescribable experience. The best part was embracing our unplanned day and letting things unfold.

My mom and I went to Lucca by train on Saturday, March 28. Things got off to a great start: we bumped into our Venezuelan classmate once we arrived at the train station in Lucca. This was a perfect coincidence, which led to a completely perfect day! And I’ll add that our friend speaks Spanish, moderate Italian, and very little English. So, I spent my day buffing up my Italian, translating between her and my mom. I loved this!

Entering the city is a very short walk from the train station. Once we got to the Roman walls, the three of us were taken aback by gorgeous views. Lucca itself is surround by its original fortress, which now serves as a long stretch of walking paths and small parks— you can easily stroll the city’s perimeter. Since the weather was perfect, warm and sunny, there were people out jogging, biking, walking, and picnicking. It was very easy to catch the happy “it’s-Saturday” energy around us. I found this intoxicating and loved meandering and looking out at the landscape of Tuscan hills that look so much like those in California.

None of us had any plans or knew what to expect for our little day trip. Not a problem: Lucca is perfect for this approach. We happily found an outdoor market right away and browsed fresh produce, clothes, house wares, shoes, etc. Then we retreated toward the inner city streets where Lucca continued to take my breath away. Everywhere you turn is picture perfect. Truly. My camera was clicking all day! Lucca itself is the major site. It’s best to simply walk and take everything in. And that we did! The most repeated phrase of the day was, gasping, “Oh, wow. Wow! Bella! Wow! Mi amo Lucca. Molto bella.”

I’ll admit now that I’m not doing this Tuscan village any justice. Lucca is the kind of place you have to experience in real time to understand. And it only gets better by the hour. I’ll just say that if I thought Lucca was pretty in the sunlight, it’s as amazing and luring at sunset. Hello, stereotype! Think Tuscan countryside, cypress trees, medieval bell tower, birds chirping, live music playing, and glows of a fuchsia, orange, and violet sunset. I was ready to burst. Period. To be cliché, there aren’t clear enough words for describing my impression of Lucca. In general, coming from my current Florentine life, I thought a Saturday in Lucca was a lot like escaping busy everyday city life for a relaxing day with family and friends in a small country town. People are more friendly and approachable. Streets are less crowded. The energy is brighter, more cheerful. There’s several little piazzas all throughout the city; you can simply walk slowly from point to point, or take to renting a bike as I plan to do on my next visit.