Lucca, a less traveled destination
When we rented houses in Levanto over the summer with our family many years ago, we discovered Lucca. Lucca is a beautiful walled city with lovely churches and a wonderful antiques market held the 3rd weekend of every month in the summer period.Our family would go there about once a month since it was the nearest "big" city. Home of Puccini, it holds a special place in our hearts as well as many great family memories. It is about 1 hour and fifteen minutes from La Fortezza, so it's not unusual for us to go there for concerts even now. They have an amazing summer pop concert series. In fact, this year is was part of Elton John's farewell tour! There are some fun activities that have popped up over the years. For example, food tours on bikes are popular.Frank and I recently met a photographer, an American who has moved to Lucca with his wife. Tom England, was a photojournalist for Time Magazine, Newsweek, The New York Times, and National Geographic, to name a few.Along with his on the road assignments, on his off time, Tom taught photography. Since Tom has tons of energy and a natural curiosity, he found exploring Lucca through the lens to be quite exciting. Last year Tom decided to start a photo touring business in Lucca. Since he has scoped out some amazing secret spots and knows all the best angles, not to mention his expertise, his tours have become quite popular. Frank and I decided that it would be fun to reserve one of his photo tours. It was amazing. Not only did he take us to some beautiful and photogenic spots off the beaten path, but he guided us to some really beautiful imagery. His teaching style was both informative, casual, and interesting.We spent 3 hours walking all over Lucca, down alleyways and passages, all while listening to his stories about his amazing career as a photo journalist for iconic American publications. At times it seemed that he was the real-life Sean Penn, photographer in The Secret Life of Walter Middy. A great storyteller and teacher, it was a great idea to trek Lucca with Tom.
Lucca is a small but scenic town on the far western side of Tuscany, near Pisa; it is an oasis for ex-pats because it's so close to the Pisa airport and easy to manage as far as size goes. We had a great time, and I highly recommend Tom England's photo tour if you're looking the photograph Lucca in a more artistic and different way. Put Lucca on your list. We offer a shopping retreat on the Retreat Website. The Antiques Market is not to be missed, join us. Annette x