Village Italy - 2014
American Cemetery, Vinci & Lucca
Tuesday, September 16
Florence American WWII Cemetery, Vinci and Lucca, Italy
On our way to Vinci, we stopped at the Florence American Military Cemetery where 4,398 American soldiers are buried.
After the war, the Italian government gave the land to the United States as a final resting place for the American soldiers who died fighting to liberate Italy.
We arrived in Vinci late morning. Leonardo da Vinci’s name comes from Vinci, the place of his birth. He was born there in 1452. We toured the small Leonardo da Vinci Museum that included some of his paintings, drawing, blueprints, models of machines and other early technological inventions.
Before leaving Vinci we joined two other couples from the tour and enjoyed lunch and conversation at Leonardo Restorante. I ordered a thin prosciutto cheese pizza. That was one of the best pizzas I have ever eaten.
Vinci, Italy Leonardo Restorante
Following lunch we were back on the bus headed to Lucca, Italy. The bus dropped us off outside the old city wall. With luggage in tow we entered Lucca through one of the gates in the wall. It was a five minute walk to Albergo La Luna where we stayed for the next two nights.
Walking to Albergo La Luna
An hour after checking in, we met a local guide. We spent the next one and one-half hours with the guide, starting on top of the 2,000 year old city wall. The wall is about 75 feet wide with a walking/bike path covering its entire length of two and one-half miles.
The guide took us through many sections of the old part of the city explaining the history and giving suggestions of what we should see during our free time.
A group dinner wasn’t scheduled for the evening, so we joined three couples from our group at Trattoria Baralla. We ordered the specialty of the house, a steak that was huge and grilled to perfection.
Trattoria Baralla
Wednesday, September 17
Olive Groves and Lucca, Italy
Lucca
This morning we were on our own exploring more of Lucca. We window shopped some of Lucca’s elegant stores, walked through piazzas, wandered down narrow back street neighborhoods and visited a basilica. Both of us enjoyed the old town section all within the ancient city wall.
Late morning we left Lucca driving a short distance to Frantoio La Visona, a local co-op olive mill. While at the mill, we learned how the regions extra-virgin olive oil is produced. Before leaving we had a traditional farm lunch.
After lunch we walked along the Nottolini Aqueduct. It was built in the early 1820s to feed water into Lucca. The water came from mountain streams and several natural springs.
The water was channeled through underground pipes to a row of more than 500 brick arches that ran for more than 2 miles before entering Lucca.
Nottolini Aqueduct
Late afternoon we were back in Lucca and had the rest of the day and evening on our own. This gave us more time in Lucca and a chance to find another great restaurant for dinner.
Lucca
Two other couples joined us for dinner at Trattoria da Leo. Lisa, our guide, told us this restaurant was one of the locals favorite restaurants. It was an excellent choice.
Trattoria da Leo was an authentic family-style restaurant featuring typical Tuscan cuisine. Dianne ordered lasagna and I had cheese ravioli in a spinach cream sauce. Dianne said it was the best lasagna she had ever eaten and my ravioli was delicious.
The trattoria is located on a very narrow street a few steps from Piazza Michele. In the photo on the left, the curved opening is the entrance to Trattoria da Leo.
© 2014. 2015 Bill Juffernbruch