We stayed at La Gemma di Elena Bed and Breakfast, in their gorgeous separate apartment. Apparently our rooms, which are in the building next door to the actual b&b, originally belonged to a nun- the Blessed Elena Guerra who was sainted by the pope in 1959. There is even a tiny chapel inside the apartment! Gorgeous wooden high ceilings, a modern kitchen, two huge couches, and a pretty bedroom with french doors to two tiny balconies made it one of the greatest places I've ever stayed!
We had a relaxed night in, munching on pastries and picnic foods and heading to bed early. The next morning we set off to explore the city. We climbed up to the walls, which are about as wide as an average street and have bikers and walkers circling them. The intermittent baluardi (not sure how to translate that to English... bulwarks? ramparts? The sticky-outy parts...) have been turned into grassy parks and picnic areas and there are trees lining the entire path.
We resolved to rent bikes the next day and went back down into the city to check out the Palazzo Mansi museum. When we arrived, a sweet old lady ushered us into a back room saying that she had a special surprise- turns out it was a workshop day for her society of weavers. They work using restored looms and try to conserve the techniques of the past. Very cool.
Inside the palazzo we walked through room after room of lavish decorations. It's kind of crazy to think that there were so many beautiful palaces like this just used for a single family. I would definitely recommend a visit- I got so caught up looking around that I kept forgetting to take photos. The pinacoteca and Neoclassical art gallery are worth the ticket price by themselves.
After the museum we went to one of my new favorite restaurants, Trattoria da Leo (Via Tegrimi, 1). It was decorated art nouveau style with flowery chandeliers and abstract doodles and the food was unbelievable (and inexpensive!). We had pumpkin risotto, tagliatelle with anchovies and leeks, beans in a chianti and sage reduction, and a cheesy baked cauliflower dish that disappeared off the plate like a magic trick.
After lunch we walked around some more, seeing the cathedrals of San Michele and San Martino, Piazza Napoleone, and the inside of quite a few stores on the main shopping street. Unable to muster up much of an appetite after our lunch, we satisfied ourselves with some fresh bread and cheese with olives, tomatoes, and artichokes for dinner.
The next morning we got up like a couple of kids on Christmas- bike day! We headed next door to the b&b for another wonderful breakfast and then out to the walls to find a bike rental shop. If you're there I recommend Cicli Bizzari (Piazza S. Maria, 32). The owner is a sweet old man, who gave us an extra hour for free- because he wanted to extend his lunch break. He also gave us an excellent lunch recommendation, more on that later. I can't even tell you how fun it is to bike in a circle around those walls. It really shouldn't have been that exciting, but the sun was out and the breeze was blowing and we were on top of walls that have been around for hundreds of years- just biking!
We took a pit-stop for gelato, naturally.
I don't even know how many times I biked around the city.
When we had tired ourselves out, we stopped in one of the mini-parks to sit and read and fool around with our scarves in the wind.
For lunch we went to Mr. Bizzari's recommendation of L'Oste di Lucca. We shared an appetizer of liver pate, a specialty of the region, with olives. Then my mom got fresh gnocchi in a walnut and gorgonzola sauce, served in a parmesan shell, and I got the house pasta which was pici (super thick spaghetti I've probably already talked about) in a sausage and mushroom tomato sauce. So good.
On our way to the train station we stopped into the famous Piazza dell'Anfiteatro and saw the Torre Guinigi (with OAK TREES planted on top) from afar. The sun was setting as we got to the station and hopped on a train back to good old Bologna. Lucca is a lovely visit.
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