The North West Tuscan Way for the Independent Tourist

IN PICTURES

Tour 24: Lucca, Within the Walls

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As with a great many interesting European cities Lucca is best approached by train.   Not only will the train ride escort you through the beautiful Italian countryside but unless you have foolhardily coincided your trip with the height of tourist season (June, July and, God Forbid! August…) then your arrival will be one of sheer delight, I can assure you.  Take a local train from say Viareggio or Pietrasanta and you should arrive refreshed and relaxed – which is good, because today you have some serious urban walking ahead.   Don’t worry, we’ll be biking some of the way – well, a lot if truth be told…. for if you really have timed this to avoid the summer crush, what lies ahead are a splendid few hours freewheeling (carefully, and with due consideration mind you) down along and through a veritable warren of streets, squares, back alleys, broad avenues, stylish parks, busy markets… and all.  But first, before we set off I suggest we make full use of the excellent station buffet. Emboldened by your slew of espressos, your delicious pastries and a final squint at the map, the time has now come;  one last glance around for stray wallets, dropped tickets etc, and we’re off.   What follows is pretty much what you decide it be.  I for instance, with my ever-growing obsession with all things stone, took an immediate and prolonged interest in the astonishing defensive formations that, even after 500 years, still entirely circle the town and would appear to stand practically as good as they day the last of the countless millions of bricks was laid.  Long sections of the wall actually date back almost 2,000 years to the Roman times. Gateways have been bricked up, narrowed, widened, and narrowed again as necessities on the ground would dictate.   Not that any of this necessarily occurs to the throngs of happy locals and visitors alike as they stroll, jog, hike and bike their way around these immensely impressive fortifications.   My thoughts and opinions regarding Lucca are expressed in my real time dispatch: The Really Great Walls of Lucca.    But now its time to set off on your scroll and take a look at a slice of Lucca as seen through my Casio Exlim.  Taken over a span of three months during the spring of 2014 I present these photos in due appreciation of a very special town indeed. Lucca, Lovely Lucca.

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and now

the slideshow

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thanks for visiting martincooney.com

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next

The North West Tuscan Way: In Pictures

Tour 25: Lucca, Beyond the Walls

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ΜαℜΤ¡∩

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