Giorno Quindici

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Il sole è brillante e il cielo è molto blu. (The sun is brilliant and sky is very blue.) Fa molto caldo qui. (It is very hot here.) This sounds like a broken record but, the temperature is the same HOT.

Dopo abbiamo fatto una passeggiata siamo andati a pranzo alla Bottega di Anna & Leo. (After we walked the wall we went to lunch at Anna & Leo.) Food is excellent here and very authentic Italian- no bells and whistles just great food. And no nonsense wine glasses! Note – the rabbit stew I had was so close to what I had growing up in Vermont. All the spices in the sauce. It brought back so many memories.

We walked around in the afternoon and bought tickets for the concert at night -  Le Donne di Puccini (Puccini's Women). This concert might have been the best we've seen since coming to Lucca 9 years ago. The singers (a soprano and a tenor) were also great actors –we were in the first row so it was fun to see their facial expressions. Great voices and the high notes held with perfection. The opera season starts in Pittsburgh when we get back and we eagerly await the start.

The wall is the # 1 attraction in Lucca and # 2 – the concerts* according to trip advisor.  Those two things and the food are the reasons we love Lucca.  Of course the food is a big part of any travel to Italy – just explore and savor the flavors and tastes. The wall and concerts just complete the high.

*Puccini e La Sua Lucca Festival has a steady company here of 60 professional opera singers, 4 accompanists, 2 symphony associations (it's the primary residence of the Lucca Philharmonic Orchestra all year), 2 choirs, and 4 conductors with a staff of 20 collaborators.