Today we got back on the bus and headed west, stopping in the charming and prosperous town of Lucca, the hometown of Puccini and now an uber-popular mecca for cyclists. Today was a wet day, and I was glad I had remembered to pack my travel umbrella! Despite the rain on this day, the weather in Italy in March was perfect. As one of the first tours of the season, things had a fresh feeling, and many of the big attractions were not overwhelmingly busy.

 

If you are considering a Spring trip book it!

 

Lucca is a quaint walled city where you can walk or bike along the top of the thick outer wall which makes it different from other walled towns we had visited before.  The distance around the city is about 2.6 miles, making it fantastic walking track. It feels almost park-like, lined with large chestnut and plane trees and bright green grass. 

 

It was sadly too wet to bike but we had a blast shopping and finding our way around this beautiful town. Lucca is We both felt that a trip back to Lucca was in order on a day when we could take advantage of the green space and wall and cycle.

 

I found one of my favorite food shops in Lucca where they sold all kinds of dried legumes and spices. There were all kinds of wines, and packaged grocery items and I ended up bringing home some amazing truffle salt, that makes my popcorn taste amazing!

 

Back on the bus, we continued our journey through the Tuscan countryside. It was exciting to see how the big bus navigated the twisting narrow roads with ease. I felt grateful to be a passenger and not the driver. 

 

We arrived in Levanto our base for Cinque Terre in a downpour! We made quite a site rolling our suitcases though town, trying to avoid puddles. We were excited to be at the beach, but all crossing our fingers that the weather would clear for our Cinque Terre exploration the next day.

 

Just a tad wet, the effort to get to our hotel was so worth it! The hotel was warm and dry, and we were able to get settled into our cozy double room right away!  Traveling with my Mom, we often were given rooms with two separate beds which gave us an added bonus of a somewhat larger room.  

Of course, ordered an espresso and enjoyed a quick walk around this town before dinner excited to see what Levanto had to offer.

 

That night we had a Ligurian Feast at the hotel for dinner, with tons of amazing food. Mom was even recruited to make the pesto. My favorite course of the night was a seafood stew that was rich with crab and other shellfish. Buon appetito!