We started our morning in Lucca with a leisurely walk until one of the city’s 3 bell towers was open for climbing at 10:30. We’d considered visiting the Torre delle Ore (“Tower of the Hours”) bell tower the night before, but Google Maps warned it was ‘as busy as it gets.’ The decision to wait until morning was a good one, as we only shared the tower with one other couple.
Noah and I started the morning with a mile-long walk around Lucca, even venturing outside the walls for a few minutes.
Amanda and Noah had focaccia from the Amedeo Giusti bakery, which dated to the 1920s. They reported it wasn’t as good as what we’d eaten in Monterosso.
Noah and I sampled white and dark chocolate truffles, respectively, from Cioccolateria Caniparoli.
At the top of most flights of stairs within the tower were interesting tidbits about the history of Lucca and the Torre delle Ore tower. Interestingly, the walled city once boasted 200 towers, with families building towers to show off their wealth. The weather was perfect, and we took in the views of Lucca and the surrounding areas from all four vantage points. We lingered at the top until 11:00 to hear the bells, but they turned out to be a little underwhelming compared to our memories from our 2005 visit.
Noah kept close tabs on his Apple Watch rings throughout the trip.
After the tower, I sought out a glass bottle of Coke Zero, and then Noah and I revisited the local store we’d gotten prosciutto from the night before. Our original plan was to get a full lunch with meat, cheese, olives, and crackers to enjoy on the train, but I didn’t leave enough time for the meat and cheese to be cut. Once we had some mortadella and bresaola, we ordered 200 grams of olives, paid, and rushed back to the hotel.
If I see Coke Zero being served in glass bottles, it’s a must-stop.
We took a less-than-ideal route to the train station, dragging our roller suitcases through an odd gravel sidewalk. Nonetheless, we made it to the station in time to get some drinks from the vending machine and board the train to Florence, which was the first of two legs of our journey into Rome.
Existing Lucca’s walls for the final time.
