We walked the wall today - there were a lot of students both on and off the wall. They were having a rally about cleaning up the world's pollution. So many that they had to be from other towns. Just as we were 200 yards from ending our walk it started to rain. We were not prepared for the rain. We had a reservation at a restaurant close to the wall so we were lucky. Abbiamo mangiato alla Osteria VipsaTeresa. (We ate at Osteria VispaTeresa.) I cibi sono stati buonissimi. (The food was very good.)

We did some shopping in the afternoon. It is Katia's birthday tomorrow so we bought her a present.

We also went to an amazing exhibit of hundreds of photos of Lucca taken over the past 70 years.  Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take photos. Spent a couple hours there - fascinating.  Mostly old scenes of the city from the '50's on plus newer ones with celebrities - Jackie Kennedy, Andrea Bocelli, Pope John Paul II, plus Elton John, Sting, the Rolling Stones and others who recently have come here for the Summer Music Festival.

At night we were supposed to meet Katia and her husband at Piazza St. Michele but Andrea was in Bologna for work and was late coming to Lucca so they had to cancel. I didn't see the note until after we waited for them at an outdoor table in the piazza. Had two Aperol Spritzes until Dow noticed that I missed the email and they were not coming. Disappointing but the drinks and “people watching” helped ease the pain.  Will try and connect with her tomorrow.

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Giorno 18

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