My Name is Lucca

We are now settled into our home in Tuscany for the next week and are making side trips to towns across the region.  First up is the walled city of Lucca.  Apparently, Lucca is the tissue and toilet paper capital of Europe, but it's certainly nothing to sneeze at (insert groan here).  The more impressive aspect is that it still has a perfectly intact wall approximately 2.5 miles in length that surrounds the old city center.  It was spared from bombing during both world wars.  Today, you can jog or ride your bike under a canopy of shade trees that line the wall.

Seeing a portion of the city wall and the park
that lines the top of it

We visited on Saturday morning when Via dei Bacchettoni is closed and vendors set up in the street for their weekly market.  Although predominantly clothing stalls, there were a few food vendors and a couple of fruit stands interspersed the length of the street.  We strolled with the locals and perused the items for sale, occasionally getting to butcher their language with our poor Italian speaking.

Piazza dell'Anfiteatro

Their really aren't any must-sees in Lucca -- no Colosseum, no Statue of David, etc.  As a result, there aren't big crowds as it's probably not on most lists of places to visit.   That's a shame because this is the kind of place where you can really experience Italian life more like a local than most of the places we've been so far.  Besides seeing the fully intact city wall which is really functioning like an elevated linear city park, the neatest feature of Lucca is the Piazza dell'Anfiteatro.  This "square" is actually circular on the site of an Roman-era amphitheater.  It is completely surrounded by buildings and you enter though one of four small arched tunnels.  Once inside, the piazza is lined with shops and outdoor cafes.  It definitely has the feel of the local outdoor gathering spot.  Lucca is only about 30 minutes from where we are staying, so I suspect we will be returning before we leave Tuscany.