There is no denying it. Tourist season is in full swing. Gone are the days when you could have Europe more or less to yourself outside July and August. If it was beginning to get apparent in Bologna, it’s so blatantly obvious in Florence one almost has to laugh. Last time we were in Florence in late September 2013, there was a healthy number of visitors. This time around, we figuratively don’t have to walk in the historic center of town. Like a broken-off branch in a river, we’re just be swept up by the slow-moving current of tourists packed like sweaty sardines.
We chose to return to Florence because we have a somewhat special bond with it. That bond is simply that we had a good time the last time around. That being said, we have been here before and we intended from early on in our planning sessions to use our stay in Florence as a hub for interesting Tuscan day trips. Having scoured the Trenitalia website for good travel deals, we rolled out of the Santa Maria Novella already at 9 in the morning to visit Lucca.
I admit, Lucca is a bit of a bucket list destination. It’s a beautiful town in its own right, clean and with a great feature of strategically placed faucets providing access to potable water that is heavily used by locals toting large plastic containers for refilling. With the water being a bonus, my main objective was simple: to circumnavigate the town atop the ancient wall that completely encircles the historic old town. From the outside, this wall looks moderately imposing and unmistakable like a wall. Strolling atop however, is on a wide path, akin to a park with plenty of mature trees providing merciful shade from the blistering heat (30 degrees Celsius or so in the shade mid-day). There’s no shortage of bike rental places, but with a wall that stretches a mere 4.5km, a walk seemed more appropriate.
After enjoying a picnic lunch and later a decent-sized German beer while shamelessly people-watching from one of the many piazzas, we checked off the second item on the list which was outside the historic center and across the train tracks in a somewhat rough part of town. Lucca, with its strong Roman influence back in the heyday has an impressive aqueduct tucked away where only Google Maps can find it. Other places in historic Italy, you’ll frequently see a segment of arches towering above but rarely as intact and long as in Lucca. More due to puzzlement than overt malice, we ignore some bizarrely placed Private Property signs presuming them to be part of some unfunny joke to get close to the viaduct to get a real sense of their scale. These ancient giants are massive. It’s with a genuine sense of astonishment that we turn our backs to this laser-beam-straight, impressive feat of Roman-era engineering and walk the short route back to the train to return to Florence.
[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][et_pb_image admin_label=”Image” src=”http://[2600:1f13:e3b:9100:ae18:b451:18d2:e990]/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/IMG_20170522_142515.jpg” show_in_lightbox=”off” url_new_window=”off” use_overlay=”off” animation=”left” sticky=”off” align=”left” force_fullwidth=”off” always_center_on_mobile=”on” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” /][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]The seemingly endless aqueduct in Lucca
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