Lucca: Our favorite place in Tuscany

I know when most people think of Tuscany they think of Florence. But for me it’s Lucca. I am in love with Lucca.

Actually, my entire family is having a love affair with the city right now. The kids want to go back immediately and keep talking about it at the dinner table. Our departure was met with tears including my own. It’s hard to find cities that still have a soul.

Lucca is about 45 minutes from Florence and 20 minutes from Pisa. We flew into Pisa with a 20 minute drive into Lucca.

Lucca was founded by the Etruscans and became a Roman colony in 180 BC. It’s history is steep with many layers. It’s a Medieval City with walls that surround the heart of Lucca. You can ride bikes and walk on the wall to admire the views.

For me and our family Lucca is about a certain lifestyle. It’s about taking life as it comes and enjoying it. We admired the buildings, shops and cuisine but we didn’t rush it. We also loved the small things like the supermarket Essalunga. We spent time as a family not really touring but living.

It was charming to walk the streets and not deal with mobs of tourists that your are sure to find in Florence. Flavia’s son Phillipo toured around with us for the day as we became acquainted with the area. We rented bikes to ride on top of the wall. It’s the best way to get a view of the city. Adrian had so much fun on the bike that day.

Flavia from Villa Baggine and I both have a passion for table linens. I desperately wanted to find some to take home so we went on a linen shopping adventure.

I bought a couple of items from this fun shop Le Sorelle.

There is another shop that also had amazing pottery and I am kicking myself right now for not buying any of it while I was there!

This particular shop also has antiques in the back that you can browse through. I love this picture because it is typical Italian. That’s Flavia with the cute purse, me with the camera, and the store owner in the background – can you see him in the mirror?

I found this adorable kids saddle perched on a sofa. I love the detail with the light blue and red flowers.

The boutiques were full of fun clothing selections. I love the teal color that I was seeing everywhere.

Bursts of color would be here and there and down narrow paths like this one.

The palazzos where full of families and neighbors. It felt like a community. Many people chatting in the streets and running into each other at shops.

Giulia was completely at home considering we found tons of stuff with her name on it spelled with a “G”.

Lucca is truly one of the best kept secrets in Italy. We are counting the days until we get to go back.