2018 - Four Weeks in Italy
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The Hendersons 2018 - Four Weeks in Italy - Bagni Di Lucca |
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2018 - Four Weeks in Italy |
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26 – 27 Maggio Our host didn’t have a firm time for us to vacate, so we
didn’t hustle out of the apartment. Our next stop was Bagni di Lucca, close to
Lucca, but a bit removed. Bagni di Lucca is a beautiful, but small town, located
on the Serchio River. We had booked at a hotel that was built over the thermal
baths. It was a little remote – we couldn’t easily walk into the town, for
example, but we were able to walk around the little neighborhood and had a
couple days of winding down and preparing for our flight home. We enjoyed
swimming in the small, but nice pool, we both had a massage and went into the
steam room (my goodness, it was hot!) and I had a pedicure and a facial. All in
all, a very pleasant way to wind down after nearly four weeks on the road.
28 Maggio Leaving Italy – along the way we drove next to the river for some miles. We had a photo op of the beautiful, very old (probably about 1100) Ponte della Maddalena. This was one of the bridges on the ancient route, the Via Francigena, a pilgrimage route that begins at Canterbury and ends in Roma. We had never heard of this route until just before we left for Italy – it is being developed so pilgrims can take it by foot, bicycle or car.
Our destination was Nice, where we needed to turn in the car,
then spend one night before flying home. We used the GPS on Tom’s tablet – and
it went wonky on us telling us to take an exit which we didn’t need to and
sending us back to Genova at one point. Stupid computers. Nice is a city under construction as best we could tell. The
area around the airport, where we had booked, is torn up as light rail into the
city is being constructed. It was not an easy task, but we got the car back to
Renault, there was no charge for making the car officially Italian with the
damage done in Modica and we had a lift to the hotel. Dinner was in a small restaurant near the hotel – we didn’t
dare venture out further, the construction meant the roads were a mess. We went
to bed early for an early rise. 29 Maggio Up early, light snack in the hotel, although the fresh juice
machine was an interesting contraption – about as big as a small refrigerator
and produced wonderful juice, although it would lob an orange into the lobby
from time to time. The flight to LHR was pleasant enough. We had a few hour
layover, then onto our 747 for the flight home. A couple of minor problems –
first a fuel pump (which maintenance took care of), then a squall came in, so
departures were delayed. We left about an hour late, but a good tailwind and
extra juice to the engines got us to Dallas only a few minutes late. Good to be home….. Food, food, food and drink Even though we've been to Italy eight times, we always find a
new taste treat. Here are some of our discoveries on this trip: Cassata: We found that the dessert is common all over Sicilia,
to a lesser extent in other parts of the country. It has a distinctive round
shape and green color. it is very rich. I suspect there are many versions, the
one we saw most often had a filling of ricotta and shell of marzipan. Tarallini - these are little snacks made of flour, salt, olive
oil and wine. they are shaped into sort of circles, boiled, then baked.
Flavorings such as chocolate for sweet or anise for savory may be added. Gnocchi with asparagus and gamberi - what a treat! We need to
figure out the sauce. Pesce spada (swordfish) with pastaccio and almond crust
sauteed. Verdeca, a white wine from Puglia, slightly dry |
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