I guess this is what falling in love feels like.

--originally written on March 6 2010

I am in love with Tuscany.  I never want to leave this place.  It’s so unbelievably beautiful that words can’t describe it and cameras can’t capture it…but being the determined writer/photographer I am, I’ve kept trying to capture it…

We woke up in Pisa early yesterday morning and left our gorgeous bed and breakfast to go take the obligatory tourist pictures by the Leaning Tower…

Once we had done that to our satisfaction we headed back to the airport to get transport to Lucca.  The drive from Pisa to Lucca is super confusing…lots of narrow Italian roads with very little or very unclear signage…but we made it to our tiny town of Massa di Machinaia in just under an hour.  The drive was breathtaking…Lucca is nestled in the foothills of the Italian Alps and along the way we could see the snow-cappped peaks in the distance as we drove through them.  We passed ancient Roman acqueducts, olive gardens (not cheap Americanized Italian restaurants, the real thing), and villas perched so precariously on the edges of cliffs and peaks of hills that they looked like they were all going to fall off.  Churches stood on the corner of every small town street we drove past, and from the switchbacks on the mountain we had to drive through, we could see all of Pisa stretched at the foot, the Leaning Tower sort of tipsily sticking out.  What a drive!  We were in a state of constant awe at its beauty.

At La Casa Di Iva, the house’s caretaker, Enrica, met us and gave us the keys and the grand tour.  The house itself is the most picturesque, crumbly, rustically gorgeous place in the entire world…plunked down on the side of a foothill surrounded by grape arbors, wildflowers and cypress trees, and with the most fantastic views of the Alps.  The one drawback to our abode is that it is FREEZING!  It’s meant to be a summer vacation spot and the heating system hasn’t been updated since around World War II (just guessing)…so we are spending all our time in the house huddled around the radiators or snuggled under blankets.  Still…it’s absolutely fantastic for a home base. 

Our first concern was lunch…thankfully there’s a deli-market right down the road from us, so we walked there and Peter, our Italian-speaking GOD and savior for this leg of the trip, ordered us panini with coppa salami and pecorino cheese that the man makes himself (the salami AND the cheese).  Best. Lunch. Ever.  Every bite was divine.  Ahhhh.  Then Enrica came and took us to see her family’s apiary (bee-keeping farm) and honey factory…that’s her real job.  The bees were all sleeping because it was cold, but we so enjoyed seeing the honey making stuff…and even moreso, getting to taste-test all the different kinds they make!  There were honeys made from acacia (very sweet and light), “millefiori,” or “a thousand flowers,” which tasted the most like honey as we think of it, and “melata,” or chestnut…very rich, dark and almost bitter.  Mmmm.  We all bought small jars to bring with us…they will fit in the airplane’s 100ml rule, yay!

After a completely cut-throat game of Scrabble (which I dominated, as per usual), we headed into Lucca to explore for the afternoon.  After some adventures with a car in narrow, narrow streets of the actual town, we found a garage and parked it, then started to wander.  Lucca is everything I thought a Tuscan town would be…twisty, turny cobbled streets, picturesque, pastel-stuccoed houses, small markets and shops everywhere, fountains and churches throughout.  So beautiful.  We had probably the best afternoon of my life wandering around.  We found a glass-making shop where the family makes all their own Murano-style glass, and we three girls bought tiny, intricate charms to put on necklaces or bracelets.  We found artisan meats and cheeses in delis that we bought to go with our honey for dessert that night (cheese and honey is a Tuscan favorite, apparently), and got giant bottles of Chianti.  We visited a few different gelaterias (not pronounced like “cafeteria”) and tried tiramisu, Nutella, “fragola,” or strawberry, black-cherry amaretto, and sugar-cookie gelatos among us.  We walked along the Renaissance-era stone-and-earth walls that surround the entire city.  We had, in short, the most beautiful and relaxed and generally perfect afternoon of my life. 

Last night we feasted like kings, too!  The very low price of about 30 euro got us fresh-made spinach-and-ricotta ravioli, homemade pesto, insalata with oil and vinegar, bread with honey, cheese and olive oil, and what felt like endless amounts of chianti and local Italian wine.  We ate, drank, and made merry from 6pm when we got home from Lucca until about 10pm, when we were all so tired and content that we decided to go to bed.  Even though it was freezing, I slept like a baby in several sweaters/sweatshirts and three blankets…softest pillow in the world. 

This morning has been slow and lazy…lots of coffee and snuggling up talking about how much we love this place…although we’re off in about 15 minutes to drive to Cinque Terre, supposedly one of the most beautiful places in the world.  Gotta go get ready!  Buona sera, mis amicis!