On one of the days that we were in Florence, David, Donna, Kathie, and I took a day trip by train to the city of Lucca. Lucca is still completely surrounded by the walls built to protect it from warring neighbor city-states or northern or eastern invaders. Today, the wall provides a pretty walkway, bike path, and park area all along its top and in parts of the cleared areas outside the walls. Lucca was the birthplace of the composer Puccinni. The city was once ruled by a sister of Napolean's. (After conquering parts of Italy, Napolean placed sisters and others in positions of prominence there.)
Walking through the city, we visited the gardens at the Palazzo Pfanner, saw extraordinary mosaics on the church of San Frediano, and stopped at the site of an old Roman amphitheater, now Piazza Mercato.
Of course, we enjoyed another fine Italian lunch before returning by train to Florence.
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