Tuscany part 3

Ciao

Last blog about Italy – unless of course we go back there. We would love to see more, but then there are so many other countries we would like to see. Life can be a struggle.

Anyway, Day 5 – we caught a train from Florence to Lucca, a little over an hour away. Lucca is a small town best known for its very well preserved wall that surrounds the old part of the town. The wall itself is really wide as it was built when cannons, rather than bows and arrows were the weapon of choice. Now the top of the wall is very busy with walkers and bike riders. We hired a couple of bikes and did the 4 km circuit. Twice. Once clockwise and then anti-clockwise. The weather was perfect and not too crowded.

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Day 6 was our last day in Florence and we visited the Boboli Gardens. This a a vast space right near the city centre and, like most things, was built and paid for by the Medici family. A word about that family – nearly all historic monuments, works of art and other such things we have seen have been ordered and paid for by either royalty or the church. The Medici family was neither, they were filthy rich from commerce and banking and became a very powerful political dynasty. They ended up producing four popes and many family members married into royalty throughout Europe, but as far as Florence was concerned, nearly everything on the list of major art and cultural attractions is thanks to the Medicis.

Anyway – back to the Boboli Gardens. The Medici family established the layout of the gardens, creating an Italian style garden that would go on to become a model for many Europeans courts. It is geometric, with open expanses and small garden rooms. There are plenty of statues, fountains, grottos and views over the Florence rooftops.

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So then it was time to return to Cherbourg. As you can tell, we loved Florence and hope you enjoy the blog.

L & M