Lucca, Pisa, Via Reggio, Pietrasanta. Italy Corina Moscovich

Lucca

I arrived to Lucca (from Florence) by "Vaibus" (€6). Lucca is charming, the fact that it is enclosed and protected by the historic walls makes it pretty easy to pre-plan your day tour. However, inside these magnificent 16 th century walls, there is a compact shape of streets (vias) that change their names in an inexplicable way.

 Biadina is a local bitter drink. It is traditional to drink it with a portion of pine nuts. Try!

Impossible to burn out all the calories from the delicious food you find everywhere but a good exercise is to climb up a tower: Torre Guinigui with trees on top. Cool view of Lucca and beyond.

 

 Lucca´s past goes back to Etruscan and Ancient Roman times, and the city retains pieces of Ancient architecture. Piazza Anfiteatro is one of them.

 

 
There is a local law which prohibits to alter shopping windows names and written or painted details from before the ´60s. Therefore, you can see the legacy from the merchants who flourished here long ago but whose skills have not been forgotten.

Composers such as Puccini, Boccherini and Catalani have been born in Lucca. 

Pizzeria Felice is the most famous one in Lucca. Yummy! (I agree).  

From Lucca you can visit two other cities:  Pisa and Via Reggio. As 2 + 1 is 3, I also suggest you to visit Pietrasanta. 

Pisa (don´t do crazy itinerary trips just for Pisa, just visit it if it is on the way). Besides the typical photo of the leaning tower, I include here some other images that caught my attention during my really short visit to this ancient town.

 
 
 The Arno River is the Tuscan River that flows through Firenze and then passes through Pisa before reaching the sea.

 From Pisa I took a regional train to Via Reggio (Trenitalia, €3,4).

Via Reggio (it is worth a visit)

To make the story short: I love the sea, so, below are some pictures of what I most enjoyed in my quick visit to Via Reggio. However, if you like to do shopping you have really cool stuff in every shopping window. Alongside the coast runs the promenade with boutiques, shops, cafés, discos, etc.

 

Villa Argentina in Via Reggio is an example of a liberty-style building. It has been re-opened to the public after a super long restoration. Originally it belonged to a wealthy Argentinian lady. The Province of Lucca, which now owns this amazing place, has decided to allocate part of it for exhibitions and cultural initiatives.

Pietrasanta (I feel lucky to have visited it)

Located within the province of Lucca, Pietrasanta (City of Artists) is a medieval town of Roman origins.

Art exhibition inside a  former church 

 

It is famous for its marble studios and bronze foundries and the history related to marble goes back to people like Michelangelo...

I loved this little gem. It has at least one art gallery in every street. You can also find sculptures and art work everywhere. You can even admire a Botero´s bronze sculpture (as he lived in Pietrasanta for about a year) in Piazza Matteotti.

Next: Bologna.