South to Siena
We’re on the move today. It has been a wonderful five days in the north of Tuscany but, it is time for a change of scenery (and the same breakfast buffet) that we hope to find a few hours south near the city of Siena. Along the way, there are a few stops we have planned which, all in all should make for a a pretty full agenda.
Our first stop is the Ponte della Maddalena, also known as Ponte del Diavolo (Bridge of the Devil). Legend has it that the original builder, struggling to complete the project, asked the Devil for help, offering the soul of the first being to cross it in return. It is on the way to a number of places we have visited already, so we have seen it a few times from the road, but this time get a chance to stop and walk across the river.
From there we continue on to Lucca. Again, this is a bit of a familiar place as the roads to Pisa and Cinque Terre both pass through it. We’re curious to see what lies behind the old walls we keep having to drive by. The walls themselves are some of the best preserved in all of Italy, running for 4km and topped now by a public promenade.
Once inside, we find a charming, old, Italian city. Where Florence felt too big and busy, and village like Castiglione di Garfagnana too small and quiet, Lucca feels just right. There are few crowds, but still plenty of shops and restaurants the line the pedestrian streets to choose from. One the catches my attention is the Torture Museum, although the rest of my group seems far more interested in seeing what else Lucca has to offer. To the surprise of no one, in a place filled with various contraptions designed to inflict unimaginable pain and suffering, it is a bit of a sausage party.
At one time, over 200 towers filled the skyline of Lucca, originally designed for defensive purposes, but eventually just a way to let your neighbors know that you had more money than they did. Only a few remain, once of which we power our way to the top of to get a bird’s eye view of the city and to watch some poor tourist almost soil himself when the bell he is standing under starts ringing.
The other cool tower in the distance with the tress growing at the top is Guinigi Tower. With a tree-loving fellow traveler often calling the shots, normally we’d make the climb to the top of that one as well, but with limited time we need to just enjoy it from afar.
Heading back to the car, we pass through the Piazza dell’Anfiteatro which, like the Piazza Navona in Rome, was built on the foundation of an old Roman amphitheater. With a few days to spare and a nice AirBnB, life could definitely be worse.
Driving south from Lucca, the landscape soon changes to the rolling hills of our imagination. We are staying in a small village a few minutes south of Siena in what used to be the country retreat of a wealthy Sienese family. It is a picture-perfect Tuscan location but, as we found out at our last stop, small goes hand-in-hand with no food choices. Fortunately, our trusty Goog-machine guides us to a place not far away called Il Grillo Moro. Hands down some of the best food we’ve had yet.
