9th June 2000 Lucca
Trip Start
Apr 27, 2000
1
44
81
Trip End
Aug 09, 2000
Lucca,
Italy
Wednesday, June 25, 2003
We set out with the plan of being in Lucca very early, to walk the walls in the cool of the morning. To cut a long story short, and I don't have any trouble this time, it was a pretty shitty day. It was extremely hot and what with taking Mary to Pescia on the way, checking out the UPS service for shipping stuff home and finding a toilet for Ches, it was after 11.00 before we even climbed the walls. It was a wonderful but hot walk of 4.2 km. Looking both down into the town, at the Duomo, palace, botanic gardens and the luxurious Palazzo Pfanner, and outside the walls at the eighteenth century mansions in some sections of the "new" town. The walled town is surrounded by lawns and gardens of up to a hundred metres in width, and beyond that, a ring road, on which some of these mansions were built. As we neared the end of the walk, at around 12.15, Ches decided it was time for lunch. Rather that venture back into the tourist restaurants and cafes within the town, I decided to check one of the side streets of the "new" town. There we discovered Ristorante Bargo Giannotti, in the street of the same name. We shared a Farro and Seafood salad and a Cannellini and Prawn salad, and two Pizzas. One a mistake-four types of cheese and tomatoes, the other a seafood. The highlight though was foccaccia cooked in the wood fired oven. It had rock salt sprinkled on top and was moist and flaky and fabulous. We bought some to take home for dinner, but discovered it has to be eaten straight from the oven. It dries out in no time flat, and goes all chewy. Good value and an interesting experience. One guy eating alone, demolished a seafood platter, a bottle of red wine, basket of bread, bottle of mineral water a coffee and a glass of grappa, and was still there when we left. No tourists at all, but packed with locals. We plan on returning next week. This time wise enough to order just half the food. Back into Lucca to the internet cafe. Two hours later, the computer having wiped our entire documents twice, and absolutely nothing achieved, we returned home-me in a particularly shitty mood. Not on of my better days. I need a holiday. I need to see all my family and friends.
