Italy 2017

Ciao,


What a sleep! Easy morning and working to catch up on the web site. Looked outside to see if our surprise basket was there and.. nothing. The surprise basket mornings are over for now. It is amazing how quickly you can get spoiled. Dov'è Marta? (Where is Marta?)


Fa vento oggi. Questo è nuovo per noi. (It is windy today. This is new for us.) Strange weather so far here.  It has never been this windy. Something going on in the weather world.


Abbiamo camminato le mura. (We walked the wall.) It is very peaceful, enjoyable while still getting your exercise. Your mind can just be at ease. Not too many people on the wall today. One thing we noticed that there will be a Rolling Stones concert here on September 23. They are beginning to set up for it. I am sure some of the older Italian generation are saying “what the hell is all this for?”

Why in Lucca?  The organizers of the Lucca Summer Festival are bringing the Rolling Stones to Lucca on September 23, their only performance in Italy for 2017.  The occasion marks the 20th anniversary of the Summer Festival and will be held in an area new to the event.

In order to host an expected 50,000 guests, a stage will be set close to the historic walls of the city, comprising a number of spaces:  the Balilla field, the San Martino and Santa Maria ramparts in addition to the Carducci parking lot.  Many of the venues have been already utilized for Lucca Comics.  At least 20,000 of the tickets have been already sold.  .  Signs around the city say it is sold out.

Per il pranzo abbiamo mangiato alla Bottega di Anna & Leo. (For lunch we ate at Anna & Leo.) Un piccolo ristorante con buon cibo. È dove la gente locale mangia. (A small restaurant with good food. It is where the local people eat.

They are putting up luminaria (lights with candles) all over the Lucca for the festival tomorrow. On one of the streets there was a memorial of flowers. Two workers fell 30 feet when a crane broke and were killed a few days ago. They considered cancelling the event but decided to go on with the religious parade but without the party aspects and without the fireworks.

Walked around and ended up with over 15,000 steps.  I watched the Apple Keynote Presentation. New watches, phones etc.  Exciting!





Click on a pictures to see a slideshow


September 12

"Dots" on our bed - Thanks Frank and MaryAnn
Great walking the wall
Setting up for a concert
Concert must be really big to block off some of the wall. The Rolling Stones are coming.
New art on the wall
More new art
A view of part of the wall that surrounds Lucca
Flowers and greenery - lovely
More art - will get an explanation later
Different arrangement on a pizza
Reserve for us???
Il nostro vino per voi -Our wine for you - the house wine
Zuppa alla frantoiana di verdure di stagione- soup with seasonal vegetables
Marinated vegetables in olive oil
I not going to order that again - too much of a mess but it was very good
Buglione alla lucchese
(some kind of meat with potatoes, not what Dow ordered - but very tasty!)
Tortelli lucchesi (meat ravioli lucchese style)
The tomatoes are so perfect - You think I can bring the basket home?
Sculpture represents modern interpretation of the Piazza's location as defined by roman quadrilateral
The Rolling Stones are coming!
Two workers, putting up lights, were killed when their crane fell over. So shocking and so very sad.