It is our last full day in Italy. We are pretty worn out so we decide to spend the day in nearby Lucca casually seeing the sights we have not yet seen and finding a good place for lunch. We make our way into town thanks to our GPS. The paid parking lot we used before is now “monitored” by men that make us a bit uncomfortable. I see a woman who looks like a local give these men some money as she heads through the gate to the town. I act like I’m a stupid tourist (which I am) and we pay for our time at the parking meter and then just walk towards and through the gate (even though a man tries to stop me). I hope our rental car is OK for the day.
Our first stop is the Basilica San Frediano, the most interesting church we have visited in Lucca. Above the entrance is an incredible, huge 13th century mosaic of the ascension of Jesus. The inside is equally as amazing. There is a huge, sculptured, 12th century baptismal font with 2 glazed terracotta “lunettes” of religious themes hanging on the wall behind it. In a side chapel there is a glass shrine that displays the mummified body of St. Zita who died in 1278. That is something to see! There are several sarcophagus and tombstones marking important people who are buried here. The walls are marked with marble inlay, paintings, polyptychs (divided, painted panels), examples of sgraffito (wall decor technique), frescoes, and trompe l’oeils. We are very happy we stopped here.
We had hoped to visit the botanical garden but it is closed. We decide to visit the Museo Villa Guinigi. This museum has artifacts from the Etruscan times through,
I think, the 1800s. It was really interesting! (Although the huge religious paintings representing most recent times were very boring.) It was funny that a young man was required to follow us through the galleries; he spoke excellent English. After the first gallery I said “thank you” as we left and he said “Don’t bother. I will be with you through your tour.” He was very nice and toward the end I ask him if he could recommend a restaurant for Tuscan steak. He recommended (and located on a map for us) a few restaurants that we should consider. He said that Lucca is not the best place for Tuscan steak but he said to look at the posted menu and decide from there.
We found the closest place and after looking at the menu decided to eat there. They had an outside terrace that looked inviting. They did not have spritzes but they had an aperitif of chilled Aperol and it was a great substitute.
The very best, new food item that we had as a first course was panzanella. You have to make this! It is stale bread crumbs that are rejuvenated with oil, herbs, chicken stock, tomatoes and other luscious items, packed in a ring mold and plated beautifully for your enjoyment. Second course was margarita salad. I ask for a pasta course but our server said we would have more than enough to eat. The chef cooked our steak perfectly rare and sliced it nicely. We were FULL but we could not resist dessert: panna cotta. Yum!
The only problem with our lunch was a party of four couples who sat next to us, each with at least 1 child. One couple changed their baby’s diapers right next to the table. Other of the children ran around and /or rolled in the dirt on the asphalt. These people were primarily French (I think one mother was American) and, surprisingly, most French people DO NOT bring their children to restaurants. It did not ruin our lunch but it would have been nicer to not share lunch with these people.