The best discovery of this trip, as far as I am concerned, was the town of Lucca. Originally an Etruscan settlement, Lucca maintains its Roman street grid within Renaissance-era walls. It’s big enough to be interesting and small enough to get around easily. I just loved it. If we come back to Tuscany, I’d like to stay in Lucca and wander around the town at night.

Our daughter found a local restaurant in a guidebook for lunch that was supposed to be authentic, so we went to Trattoria Leo,  Leo was a tattooed, pierced guy who looked like a pirate. The restaurant was crowded and the service was totally chaotic, but it was one of those places where you are pretty sure if you complain, you’ll get an earful. The food was great though! I had Tuscan wild boar sausage and fagioli. OMG, it was good.

Afterwards, we wandered around, visited several churches, and finished up with a stroll on top of the very imposing walls, which are now a park encircling the city. Just freakin’ gorgeous.