Residenza Palazzo Visdomini Lucca

Kim had taken her grandma to Lucca last November and had fallen in love with the place. <br><br>We found a park not far from the city walls and then headed in for a look. We came across a chocolate festival in one of the piazzas and sampled a few beforw buying a hot cocolate drink...literally hot chocolate in a cup. It made me feel a bit sick.<br><br>Walking Lucca is like a big ...

I had thought about going to a town which was half an hour away by train to look at a chocolate shop there which was supposed to be quite unique, but I didn&#8217;t feel very well and the thought of being on another local train didn&#8217;t appeal to me. I decided to look at the local chocolate shop in Lucca but it was closed on Mondays. The ...

... Coast without the roads, money or development. Caught the train to Monterosso Al Mare which was the most northern village which had pebbly grey beaches and large statues carved in the rocks. It was quite warm and you could imagine the beach could be crowded in summer as there were people sunbaking on the beach. We decided to catch the train to the Vernazza, the next town south to have lunch. This was a really pretty town, with houses lining the piazza which ...

Just realized those not on facebook haven't seen pictures from Pisa and Florence. No long recap of Anthony and I's weekend in Tuscany, for obvious reasons. Also note that "Anthony and Alison's Great Adventure" was like taking a knife.<br><br>Love you guys! :)<br>

... We found a restaurant that had been recommended called Ristorante Giglio but we arrived too early- in true Italian style, it didn&#8217;t open until 7:30 pm, so we just had to go promenading with the locals until it opened. I came across the chocolate shop open that was closed earlier when we went past so I had a look. The dinner at the restaurant was probably the best meal we had had in Italy. I had a Tuscan dish ...

... award winning chocolatier known especially for the different types of chocolates he makes from the bean as well as his chocolates with dried fruits. I was surprised that it wasn&#8217;t really in an upmarket area but it was expensive. Pisa is a university town and we saw lots of students. We walked back to the train station, which was much more pleasant than the bus. The rain had stopped by the time we arrived back in Lucca.

... over at one another. I was in danger of collapsing in hysteria, and not the religiously-fueled kind! The music went on and on&#8230; I expected Anna Magnani, Gina Lollobrigida, and Sophia Loren to come bursting in through the doors, all searching frantically for errant husbands to shoot. Then the lights snapped off, and we felt obligated to put another coin into the box because it seemed the polite thing to do&#8211 ...

... which we did like many others :). After the nap we climbed the belltower - when you enter you initially tend to lose your balance but once you start climbing you quickly get used to the lean and have a magnificent view from the top. Lucca itself is a lovely small city surrounded by walls - but obviously only some people appreciate it - we meet a couple of ladies from Cairns who tell us in their nasally accents (I am not implying that all people from Cairns have nasally ...

... to Cinque Terre in his travels and told me if I was going to hike between the towns, I would want to stay at the "last" one to avoid the steep inclines doing it the other way round incur. Well, the "last" town when you´re back-tracking is really the first one; a fact that was lost on me until I began the hike and wondered, "Did he mean...?" Anyway, here (finally) the sun was shining gloriously and as I made my way down the platform, through the station and descended a stairwell ...

... of the lifestyle, or at the very least, the summer lifstyle, of the titled, one of the rooms is entirely furnished in needlepoint fabrics (bed and chairs), crafted by one of the male heirs during the early part of last century. I noticed a drinks trolly, fully stocked, under a staircase, and assume that come evening when the villa gates are locked, the family moves back into some of the living rooms downstairs, and most definitely the old entrance verandah, which is ...