Monday, October 4, 2010

Tuscany

Our house near Lucca
From Tuscany with the Rents
Again I've let the blog get away from me.  And it's a shame because I have gorgeous photos already to go!  It's been about two weeks since we went to Tuscany with my parents.  We stayed in a restructured home several hundred years old with little bathrooms and a beautiful view.  You could see Lucca at the bottom of the valley, but perhaps the most spectacular view was the owner's villa which we toured.
From Tuscany with the Rents
I picked up my tired parents at the Pisa Airport Wednesday afternoon and we found our lovely little Lucca villa.  We did a little exploring around that area Wednesday evening including testing out the Bruton beer brewery.  We enjoyed that little local so much that we went back with Fabri and ate at their restaurant.  It was excellent.  I highly recommend the Fiorentine Steak which was perfectly cooked.
Happy Hour at the Bruton
From Tuscany with the Rents
Dinner at the Bruton
From Tuscany with the Rents
Thursday Mom, Dad and I went to Florence for a few hours.  They went to the Accademia Gallery to see Michelangelo's David.  Having seen it before, I went shopping and walked around the historical center of Florence. We met up to see a few more sites and then headed back to Lucca. 
From Tuscany with the Rents
Friday Fabri arrived with the puppy.  Olney loved the house, especially having his own garden that he could run around off the leash.  After lunch we all went down (including Olney) to walk around Lucca.  Lucca did not disappoint, it was a beautiful city.  We walked through the entire walled city, and some way along the wall as well.  It was a good city for puppies and we all had so much fun that we decided to go back on Saturday to do some more exploring and to shop at a huge antiques market taking place.
From Tuscany with the Rents
Sunday we packed up and headed to Viareggio about 30 minutes from Lucca.  Viareggio is on the sea, so Olney had his first salt water experience.  Mom & Dad got to walk with their feet in the water and Fabri and I walked along the boardwalk window shopping.  From there we continued up north to Saluzzo for a few days until Mom & Dad had their usual luck trying to head North for a couple of days in Holland.  The usual luck being, there's always a problem, this time a strike in France closed down the trains so that I drove Mom & Dad to Nice Airport to make sure they would make their flight to Holland.
Surfer Pup!
From Tuscany with the Rents
Mom and I exploring around Saluzzo
From Tuscany with the Rents
Dad, Olney & I exploring around Saluzzo
From Tuscany with the Rents
As usual there are more photos in my Picasa Web Album!

3 comments:

mom said...

That was a really nice trip, and Holland was pretty too. Olney is a good traveler. It was neat to walk in the sand and pick up a few shells in the Mediterrean Sea. I am still recovering from jet-lag I think!

liz said...

the beach looks incredible! love the picasa pix of the architecture as well.

Jess said...

Thank you. I'd have to strongly recommend Lucca to anyone who likes to walk around beautiful cities and take pictures of beautiful buildings. Also we had a wonderful aperitivo in Piazza Bonaparte and found some good shopping.