Lucca and tracing roots

Heaven could be a day trip through Tuscany from Arezzo to Lucca! We have learned that a day can start with clouds and a low fog and it can arrive at an amazing sunny and beautiful day by noon in Tuscany. An approximately 80 mile drive landed us at the gates of Lucca an ancient walled Roman city dating back to beyond 56 B.C. and Julius Caesar’s time. First, our driver Giovanni (John) amazed us maneuvering on the autostrada and the narrow streets of Lucca….without a GPS! Later in the evening when we were back home safe in our little villa and toasting our day he admitted that it was ‘a bit stressful’ but he felt he now had the hang of this driving in Italy!

Today we stuck to our Frommer’s travel guide when we chose our spot for lunch. We ended up at Trattoria Da Leo, a place that Frommer said was a local hangout. He (they) were right! It was pretty obvious that we were amongst the locals and that’s what we enjoy. Rather than going into the details of the food I’d prefer to share the color of the experience, not only aesthetically in terms of the décor but the clientele. Picture tables full of obvious working class on a lunch break, a student or business man here and there, an occasional dog barking (inside the café) and a waiter bursting into song whenever……It was the bomb and the food and wine were good as well. As is common here we had to ask and wait for our check and when it came it was not from the two people who served us. It was from the person who seated us and it was strictly the honor system. Us recounting what we had and he writing it upside down on the brown paper table cover. One hell of an experience!
From Lucca we drove to nearby Marlia where John’s family on his mother’s side came from. We were able to explore the area and the beautiful Tuscan landscapes and wonder how bad it must have been for his grandparents to leave this place. As we walked through the beautiful church and cemetery John was touched by the connection he felt while walking where his ancestors walked. Judy and I couldn’t help but notice how most people we encountered looked like they could be one of his family members. It was a cool experience.

The drive back with the sun over Tuscany was breathtaking with villas and castles on every hill. The colors and the experience is impossible to describe. Once again we enjoyed watching the lights of the village twinkle from our small villa as we prepared our dinner, sipped our wine and recounted the day.