We Are All Well!!!

During this holiday season I’ve received hundreds of wishes from all over the world, and I have to say that it was a great pleasure and I was very touched. Therefore, I return the good wishes with great warmth and I wish to all of those who wrote to me, friends, clients and future guests in Lucca, a wonderful New Year.

I’ll take this opportunity also to reassure everyone…I have noticed that many season wishes that arrived to me also expressed worry for “Our” political and economical climate…

Well, I have to admit that the Italian situation isn’t at its best. Italy isn’t going through a great moment…it’s all very confused and chaotic…but is this situation only in Italy? I’d say that we are all in the same boat…

Anyway, one of the few certainties we have is that there is no danger of civil rebellions, revolts or uprisings of any kind. From all the Christmas wishes that I received, I seemed to detect that we are pictured by the rest of the world as if we are on the edge of a cliff…like the north African countries and Syria…or like Greece, some months ago… I felt people are afraid for us… our Bella Italia!

Well, you must know that here in Italy we have many, big problems, but we are fine…we are too fine…and this is probably the reason why Italians will never protest in the squares to truly fight… anyway, who against??? Italians won’t give up their life style and their comforts…Italians will confront this difficult moment with their heads held high, making some sacrifices if necessary, but there won’t be big disruptions…indeed, tourism is an area which will be of great help to the national economy.

Unfortunately, many times, journalists exaggerate and want to create panic, when it isn’t at all necessary. For example, here in Italy we read on newspapers and hear on the news that it is dangerous to go to Israel…but I’ve had many clients from Telaviv that started laughing when I asked them how the situation was over there…and they even invited me to visit them, because it is a beautiful country.

Here in Italy, in Lucca, we are all calm and serene…we are still worried about an economical and political system that doesn’t work anymore…but this doesn’t discourage us, instead it gives us one more reason to always do better, in order to resolve not only our own needs, but also the needs of an entire nation.

Therefore, as usual, we are waiting to welcome all of you, with the same smile and nice manners of always.

I WISH YOU HAPPY NEW YEAR! 

Christmas in Lucca

I have to admit that every year that goes by, Christams in Lucca becomes more and more beautiful and lit up!
I thank those who have planned and carried out this decoration project!
The lights sounds and images that come together are so exciting... It is worth wrapping up warm to go out in the cold... to wander around the city and its squares and to take pictures of the churches and nativities!

A Saturday-Off

Due to my job I work almost every saturday of the year as on Saturday I have to manage guests departures and welcome people arriving.. so usually when you are your day-off I have to work. Never mind!
Thank goodness yesterday it was a day-off and having nothing to do... I decided to go to the beaches to see at the "big sea" after the storm. Friday night it was a frightned storm.. not only rain... a soooo high wind storm. I think I have never heard a so strong wind in my life. I was at home watching Television and I really felt afraid.... however at the end it's gone and saturday morning we woke up with the sun.
I was curious to see how it was at the beaches where usually the wind is also higher...
That's the result in Marina di Pietrasanta!

it was amazing!

Driving back to Lucca I though it would be better to go to Casa Valeria to check if on the terrace everything was in order... after such a high wind you never know...
It was 4pm, near the suset. Not only everything was in order... but there was a magic light from the sunset..

here you are - that's what the view from the terrace yesterday at 4pm. I was impressed from the beauty of the coulours...

The Gotich Line - A new possible tour ?

The other day I met up with Debora, at a really nice café in Borgo Giannotti called Angolo Dolce, which makes some of the best pastries (so it’s definitely worth a visit!), to discuss about an unusual tour which would be different from the typical destinations. Dedicated to those who have already been several times to the main attractions, like Siena, Florence and Cinque Terre, and would like to change and discover something off the beaten track. Because there are a lot of  people who come back to visit us many times over again, we need to offer something new and uncommon, so they can discover some of our ‘secrets’.. places that only the locals and in some cases, not even they, know of.

So here is something that might take your interest. It would be great if you could let us know what you think of this tour and if you believe it could be interesting and popular.

 In 2008 the famous movie-director Spike Lee, tried to captivate in his film ‘Miracle at St. Anna’ a fraction of the war that took place in the Tuscan valleys.

Take a trip back in time discovering some of the last traces of the Second World War.

On the 8th of September 1943,  the German army occupied Italy, preparing to counterattack the arrival of the Anglo-American troupes advancing  from the south of the country. While in the South, precisely in the Montecassino and Garigliano area, the Germans were fortifying the Gustav Line, in the North-Center the Wehrmacht Commando started to localize the strategic spots  to be defended.

Under the orders of the TODT Organization (from the name of its creator , the engineer Fritz Todt), which was specialized in hard labor, thousands of Italian workers unwillingly started to build a strong fortification channel from Viareggio to Rimini, along the 320 km c. that crossed the country, from the Tirreno to the Adriatic coast. Within this fortification they created an antitank wall called the Gothic Line. The mountain chain of the Appennino was the perfect habitat to create a defensive system. Along with the wall, bunkers, pillboxes, trenches and moats where hidden amongst the thick vegetation .

In the area called Garfagnana, there are still well-kept bunkers, gun emplacements, tracks, antitank valleys, etc. This site is the only part in Italy where it is possible to see the last standing parts of the Gothic Line and therefore represents an important documentation and National Trust, which must be maintained and kept alive.

Together we will follow the footsteps of the war that took place in one of the most beautiful and picturesque Tuscan Valleys and discover the last parts of the Gothic Line, which still stand to tell this chapter of history. Discover the hidden bunkers, galleries, tracks, gun emplacements  and the pieces of history kept within them, trying to imagine what these soldiers and civilians went through and how their lives were changed forever. Find out how it altered the history and lives of the local villages and their people, and while walking along the winding cobbled roads and stone houses, notice the still visible scars of that war, the bullet holes on the facades, the alteration of the surrounding valleys caused by bomb attacks.

Finally, listen to the stories of those who still remember and can never forget how they managed to survive through those hard times.

Roofs over Lucca - An Unusual Point of View.

Only pictures today!

View From the Casa Valeria 's Terrace

La Madonna dell Stellario

View from the Angelo Custode's Terrace

Roofs over the Anfiteatro Square

View from the Angelo Custode's Terrace

San Girolamo

The Guinigi tower

View from the Angelo Custode's Terrace

View from the Guinigi Flat

View from the Guinigi Flat

View from the San Matteo's Balcony

The back of the Angel on top of  the San Michele Church

The Clock Tower

Roofs over Corso Garibaldi 

Roofs from Via Guinigi

The Back side of Sant'Agostino

Roofs around Sant Agostino

LuccaHoliday - Instructions for Use Garbage Rules

I 've just started a Section in this blog named LuccaHoliday – Instructions for Use. 
Today I want to talk about trash explaining how the Garbage Collection works within the City Walls. I know you may find this post very boring but it’s really important to me that these instructions are followed correctly. It’s a civil duty that everyone - both citizens and visitors - have to respectourselves but also others and the city itself. Well, are you ready? let's begin! 

There are four separate collections for each type of garbage.

Organico: Kitchen Waste

Multimateriale: Plastic, Glass, Cans, Tetrapack 

Carta: Paper, Cardboard

Non Riciclabile: Not recyclable

You have to place all garbage in separate plastic bags: wet garbage from cooking/eating in one bag, all paper products in another bag, glass and plastic bottles, cans and tetra pack can be put in another bag and everything else, not recyclable, in another bag.

You can use ordinary plastic bags from the grocery store and if possible it would also be required to add a tag or write with a big black pen O for Organic (kitchen Waste) , M for Multilateral (glass and plastic) , C for Paper and NR for Not Recyclable.

Tie all tops tight and place the bags in the street outside the front door, or even better at the beginning or end of the street.

The collection time is in the morning, from 6 am to 9,00 am - not earlier nor later - 

Collection days are as follows:

Kitchen Waste bags are collected on Monday – Wednesday – Friday - Saturday

Paper and Cardboard  bags are collected on 

Monday, Wednesday, Friday – Area A

Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday – Area B

Glass, Plastic, Cans, TetraPack (all together into the same bag) are collected on

Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday

Non Recyclable bags are collected on Tuesday and Friday morning

That's not difficult. It means that you cannot leave a garbage bag in the street on Sunday night, but only early in the morning on Monday. If you don’t follow these rules you - or the local families living in your building - could be fined by the local police. So I warmly ask you to take extreme care in following our rules. Besides if everybody follows the rules, it becomes easier for the local authority to keep the city cleaner. 

If, for any reason, you are not able to leave your garbage bags outside the door at the right time in the right day you can take them at the “eco islands” There are four areas within the city walls at the city’s four cardinal points, which are the entrances of the city walls (porta san donato, Porta Santa Maria, Porta Elisa e Porta San Pietro), where you will find all the separate trash-cans. Or straight outside the main doors there are big garbage containers where you can throw your garbage away at all hours, any day. 

It is very important for me to pass on this.

Indeed my guests have been always very kind, polite and well behaved so  I have to admit I’ve never had a lot of problems. I leave detailed instructions in all apartments and they are usually followed. Even though sometimes it happens… the cleaner goes into the flat and finds several garbage bags.. (even open!!!) … oh well, that is not kind at all… so she has to call the owner who then calls me up, very upset, as it is my fault.. … when I actually I have done so much to write detailed instructions… 

So please make sure to take all your trash bags away upon departure. And do not put garbage down the sink drain and no sanitary items down the toilet.  

Someone told me I am too strict!! yes I am ! I think it is an owed action from all of us.

I believe that the local authorities are doing their best to offer this service, so we only have to respect and follow these rules correctly. Their only mistake is the lack of an English translation of a very good website!  

And now, to make your stay as easy as possible I will tell you about our

CORRECT SORTING OF URBAN WASTE SOLIDS: 

PAPER-CARBOARD

Newspapers, magazines, books, work books, photocopies and various paper sheets, folded cardboards,  cardboard packaging, food boxes, paper bags-catalogues, clean paper towels.

WET WASTE-ORGANIC WASTE

Kitchen waste (leftovers and rotten food, meat and fish bones and shellfish, egg shells, coffee and tea filters, fruit and vegetable waste, used kitchen paper, cold fireplace ashes, flowers and garden waste, cut grass, small branches and wood shavings.

MULTIMATERIAL

Water and beverage bottles, glass vases, bottles for washing clothes and dishes products, bottles for house cleaning products, liquid soap bottles, containers for hygiene products, food plastic trays, plastic shopping bags, packaging plastic film; holders for yogurt, creams, desserts; fruit and veg crates, blister (shaped packaging-e.g. eggs), packaging film (cellophane etc.), boxes and clothes bags (shirts, tights, ties), Tetrapak  (milk and juice cartons etc.), aluminum cans, tins, metal containers and all containers marked with the AL symbol.

NON RECYCLABLE

Everything that is not part of the above listed categories, for example: Video and audio cassettes – compact discs; Sponge and cloths-diapers, sanitary pads ; Pens-plastic and Bakelite objects ; Dust from vacuum cleaner-films; Tapestries ; Chemical paper; Nylon tights – cosmetic and toothpaste tubes – carbon paper – chemical paper, greaseproof and plasticized paper; Polystyrene- rubber tubes; Cake, biscuit and general food packaging

CLUTTER

Mattresses, stove-tops, ovens, fridges, freezers, etc.

To be dropped off at the Ecological Centers 

... Many thanks. I trust you! 

I love Lucca

Today I would like to talk about my town, Lucca. I love it!

Well, probably this is nothing new… it is the same for most people who love their birth place… but I really love it and I am sure I wouldn’t like living anywhere else…. 

I love it because it’s gorgeous in its simplicity. 

It’s not like Florence or Rome or Venice, where you are surrounded by such important monuments, huge works of art, that may also make you feel out of place and uncomfortable.

Here nothing is fancy.. nothing is extraordinarily important like the David of Michelangelo or The Colosseum or the Sistine Chapel… here everything is simple and beautiful at the eye, harmonious,  elegant and refined and it gives you a feel of serenity

That’s what I feel every morning when I go shopping or walk to the bank or buy the newspaper at the stand on the corner. I love my town. I have been so lucky to be born here! 

Have you ever walked on the city Walls? The promenade is our garden: mine and and of every Lucchese. I go walking or running there every day, morning or evening even if it rains!… I don’t mind it … I don’t want to miss out on it! Once, I even broke my ipod as it was raining so much that it got so wet it was ruined! But I couldn’t stop. You may think I’m  crazy, but I’m not that bad. The City Walls are a magic place.. for me, for all the lucchesi. I’ve notice that it is the same also for all my guests here on holiday: once they’ve discovered the walls they go every day...

I like travelling in Italy to discover all our small towns. Several of them are surrounded by walls... Lucca is not the only one... but none are like ours. None have such a large and long promenade and are so well kept... none are completely intact. You can walk the complete ring all the way round the town, including the bastions, the large greening areas. There is a corner - between the Giardino Botanico and the San Colombano - where you can see the ancient stone cannon balls!! That's amazing. 

You might be impressed of the fact that it is still free. It’s cool, isn't it?? A gorgeous monument from the Renaissance Age completely available for everyone any time any day!! I will keep my fingers crossed so that it stays like this forever… For now we are lucky and we can take a walk or a run or a ride on top of the walls when we like. 

Of course the Wall is only one of the numerous beauty of Lucca… but I don t want to bother you with a list of monuments to visit… what I want to transfer to you is that Lucca is beautiful not only to sightsee but also to live in.

I love Lucca as it is easy to live in.

It is small enough to be all within a walking distance.. or cycling at the most….  consider that walking from Porta Sant Anna (far west side) to Porta Elisa (far east side) take less than 30 minutes. You can forget your car! Ah ahah, I indeed often forget my car… Sometimes I don’t remember where I parked it.. and I go crazy trying to find it! Nowadays having the possibility to forget your car is a luxury! Lucca allows that! 

Not only. It’s location is so superb that you can easily enjoy the seaside, mountains or lakes.. or the art!! everything you wish is  available. 

There are beaches 20 minutes away; a breathtaking countryside 10 minutes away; the Garfagnana region 40 minutes away … I can drive to Siena and it’s countryside in less than two hours, have a good lunch somewhere set in a wonderful landscape and be back home for dinner… and more and more... I could write a book! 

I love Lucca as it is still original...

.. even though it’s  changing and you hear all the local people complaining about the increasing modernity of new stores of low quality… despite all of that, there are still plenty of small local stores and shops… it still maintains an “antique” flavor… and when I buy groceries in my small store it seems really to be “out of our time”.

Lucca allows you to forget the supermarket!!!  I go out and in just a couple of minutes I reach Via San Paolino where I find my grocery store, my vegetable store, my butcher…  and the fantastic handmade chocolate store .. ah! there is also a bakery! They are all run by local families who you can talk to about the weather and about your neighbor’s new car!! When I go to the supermarket, first of all I have to take the car and I don’t like it; then I feel the supermarket alienating … who can I talk to? Nobody … except for the girl at the checkout… also, why do they have to play such loud  music  that drives you crazy? The reason why in some places you are obliged to listen to music – which probably isn’t even your type - is a mystery.

I love Lucca, as it is still safe.

Well, everything can always happen every-day everywhere, but Lucca allows you to live feeling safe and it makes your life easier… you can sleep forgetting to lock your door.. yes I know maybe that’s too much… but it happens and most of the time nothing happens… you go to the Theatre or to the cinema at night or just to take a stroll, or to cycle with your boyfriend and you don’t have to worry about your purses and wallets.

Especially in the summer time when in the historical center there are plenty of people all around just walking or having an ice cream .. it ‘s beautiful… I feel we are very lucky for that!

I love Lucca and its quietness. 

That’s the main reason most young locals hate it!! Maybe nowadays it is really very quiet for the young people… when we were younger Lucca was much livelier. It offered a wide selection of places where you could meet people and stay all together talking, listening to music, having something to drink... oh what great memories! it was so much fun! Nowadays everything has changed. There aren’t a lot of places for young people to meet… but this means no loud music from bars until late, no clubs, no late night life… 

In Lucca you go out for dinner and usually go back home before midnight! You can have a walk on the walls (the promenade is all lit up) or you can eat an ice cream or buy a book (there is a book store open until 11pm – I love it! If you want to dance … or listen to music you have to go outside the city’s Walls.. and probably take the car to get to the Versilia area.

Do you think it is boring? Maybe, but in my personal opinion it is not! I like it! Try to be out at night time walking along the deserted streets…  it is magical. I have no words to describe it!

Maybe something is missing. But what? Museums? Theatres? Cinemas? 

I know this is not NewYork and we don’t have theMoMa nor the Guggehnaim but we have the Lu.C.Ca which is doing a great job in terms of contemporary art!

We don’t have the Uffizzi nor the Accademia with the Michelangelo but you can take the train and easily get to Florence and enjoy all the Botticelli paintings within the Uffizi any time you wish!

People say In lucca there is only one Theatre. It is true. But last year the program was sooo good!! And if you wish to go to another one  you can go to Pisa, just 20 minutes away, there are several in Florence, little over an hour away, three in the Versilia area less than 30 minutes away. 

Can I miss the Concerts in San Giovanni Church? Can I forget the Summer Festival? from this year we also have the Winter Festival!! Nothing is missing here in Lucca... 

I don’t know why people say it’s boring…

I love Lucca. 

It’s beautiful that so many people is coming eager to discover it… I hope they will not take away most of its beauty. Please take care of it while being here!

A wander at the Desco

Yesterday, Sunday, as a good Lucca citizen I went to the Desco. Unquestionably enjoyable. I bought a lot of nice little treats that I enjoyed for dinner on the same evening… 

But this isn’t what I want to tell you about. There are two things I would like to talk about.

For the first time in my life (how shameful!! ) I went into the Real Collegio, going through the courtyard of San Frediano. It is a true marvel. I asked myself why it is always closed and if I was the only one who had never been there…today I’m going back, because it  seemed to me a magical place. Apart from the fact that I have a predilection for cloisters … but this one, abandoned and nearly crumbling down is a forgotten jewel. 

The second thing that I’d like to say deals with a completely different matter. 

When I got back home from the Desco I went on the Desco’s official website  Il Desco 2011

It is very fun and colorful. The links to various blogs is interesting. But one thing caught my attention straight away. There isn’t an English version of this website. So, is this event for Italians only?

We are in November, low season, so why is nothing done to promote among the foreign travelers? It seemed to me a bit of a contradiction due to the fact that Lucca is a city that lives mainly on a foreing tourism. The council, province and chamber of commerce etc. have been organizing for years a really nice event like this one and they’re not  promoting it in English?? It seems a great paradox to me. In fact amongst all my clients who were here in November nobody knew what and where the Desco was. I was surprised. 

On top of that it lasts four weeks and  I think it could attract many tourists to Italy and Tuscany during this low season. Those who travel in Italy during November and December are a "out-of-season traveler"  and surely can appreciate even more the elegance and sophistication of this event.  

Without considering that generally it takes place concomitance with another event of great relevance, the digital photo festival http://www.lupf.it/

I think that this local artistic and cultural union could bring to Lucca a lot more people…without necessarily arriving at the same type of ‘invasion’ of people that the Comics event brings…surely it doesn’t have a good start off if they don’t even advertising it in English…

Ok…I’ll advertise the Desco on my Blog and website…because when tourists, of any country, find themselves in these contests which are so ‘local’, they would surely love it... they will be happy and they will spend good words of Me and of Lucca!! 

Also If the Tourism Offices of Lucca would help me promoting The Desco with an english version of their website... they would make my life much easier and they would also make many property-owners of mine very happy. 

Irony aside, I must say that The Desco and The LuPF are really another reason to visit Lucca in the late fall. 

I really thing it's worth a visit. Even without these two events... Lucca is really beautiful in November.. as it reconciles with itself. I do also ... and everything takes place in a different atmosphere.

I mean that everything is different from Summer and September... when you have the crowds all around.. and yes it is beautiful, alive, happy, coloured.. but for those - like me and maria - who are working while the crowds is enjoying their holiday... it is very tiring. 

Lucca in November reconciles with itself. very few people all around, silence, quiteness... and I love it... it remind me when I was a child... 

…When I was a child Lucca was so different … nobody knew it!

Lucca was completely unknown. Not only all around the World.. even in Italy itself. Nobody knew where Lucca was. I remember when I went on holiday with my parents and met some other children I had to explain that Lucca was a small town in the north of Tuscany: “ Tuscany.. do you know it? The region above Rome… you might have heard about Florence?”  I know you hardly believe it, but that’s the truth!

Nowadays, when the high season has finished, after the comics festival… in November everything seems returned to the past. 

.. and to finish this post I I’d like to spare a few words for Emilio and his staff from Eco-Guide who -in my opinion- is doing amazing work. They will accompany you in your Trekking in our area helping you to discover such a beautiful land. You can find him at The Desco... and from them is also the lovely vegetable garden in the first courtyard.... Don't miss it!

I’d love to have my table set that way everyday!! 

Ezio Ricci, l'arte per l'arte

It is with great pleasure that I give you the following news. From December the 16th to January the 16th, an exhibition in honour of Ezio Ricci, by the care of Fondazione Banca del Monte, will be held in Lucca, Piazza San Martino. 


I know that the majority of you, Italians, Lucchesi and foreigners, does not know him. 


I strongly believe he's worth a few words. 


He was an artist born in Lucca (1885-1968), who's talent lied in real life painting. 
He studied at the Istituto di Belle Arti in Lucca and then became professor of decorative arts at the Accademia di belle arti in Perugia. 
Once returned to his home town and he taught at the Istituto di Belle Arti in Lucca.  The majority of his paintings from this period where lost or part of private collections. 
He then became director of the Istituto till 1961. 
Throughout his life, many exhibitions all over Italy showed his paintings : in 1923 at the Quadriennale di Torino, in 1926 at the Esposizione Nazionale di Roma, The Mostra Regionale Toscana di Firenze in 1931 and 1942 and the Mostra Internazionale d'arte Contemporanea di Rome in 1955. He also had many personal exhibitions in Lucca and the last one was held in 1980. 
Ezio Ricci had great passion and love for his land, from the Garfagnana region to the city's historical centre, and for his beloved family. His paintings portrayed scenes from everyday life, members of his family, city landscapes and countryside life. 

The most striking thing, is that neither him or his family have ever tried to make a real business out of his talent, it was driven by pure passion for the arts. 







I came to know the paintings of this artist a while ago, when I had the pleasure to meet his nephew, and fell immediately in love with his work. I have worked, and still do at this day, with his nephew for the rentals of his properties. The paintings have always been exposed and hung on the walls of these apartments, which on my web-site are named ANGELO CUSTODE, and I have always tried to enhance the beauty and importance of these works of art. I have received many confirmations from all of our clients, who have been enthusiastic about being able to observe them. 
Therefore I invite everyone to see this exhibition and to appreciate the simplicity, the taste and elegance of this great Lucchese artist...who maybe, as of now less unknown. 




I am honoured to introduce you to this timeless, great artist, who represents the culture and history of our beautiful city.      


Below, some paintings at the Angelo Custode apartments

Angelo Custode Ground - Living Room

Angelo Custode Third - Living Room

Angelo Custode Third - Living Room

Angelo Custode Noble - Reading Room