Lucca: Fighting the cobwebs underground in Tuscany
Underground wine tasting
We didn’t know much about wines, but were willing to learn. So we entered a tiny wine shop in Lucca thinking this was going to be a quick stand-up tasting.
"No, No, No," motioned the owner. "Follow me," and we went to the back of the store, down some stairs and entered a cavern filled with more than 25,000 wines from all over the world.
So this is where they keep the good stuff!
"We’re not there yet," and he motioned for us to continue into the deepest reaches of the cellar fighting cobwebs underground in Lucca! Now we know what coal miners must feel like.
But before long we came to a small cavern where the owner had set up a long table and bench. It was here we got an education into Italian wines... in the cool depths under the city of Lucca...”
This tasting was set up by A Season Away local VillaHost Fedra. "This place really isn't on Google. The owner is a friend of mine, so its a great opportunity to taste Tuscan wines in a truly unique setting," she said.
Thick walls surround the city of Lucca
Of course, besides a unique wine tasting the in cellars of the city, Lucca is one of our favourite Tuscany cities, a marvelous, medium-sized city of about 90,000. It is about an hour from FLorence and about half that to the chic seaside towns of Forte dei Marci, Viareggio and Camaiore.
Lucca is also surrounded by fortress walls that are so thick that today you can ride bikes, take carriage rides and eat at restaurants perched on top. The perspective you get of the city within is telling of the days when fortified cities in Europe were the norm to keep out invaders.
Lucca’s historical centre is a kind of well-preserved open-air museum and includes numerous medieval churches of architectural note, besides 7 towers (the most famous is the Torre Guinigi, old and grand enough to have oak trees sprouting from its ramparts!) and Renaissance buildings of wonderful styling developed and enriched over the course of centuries.
Good shopping in Lucca!
Via Fillungo, which winds through the heart of town, is a fabulous shopping street lined with clothing, shoe and accessory shops, inter-mingled with restaurants and some interesting ancient jewels shops.
A Season Away VillaHost Fedra lives in the center of Lucca and delights in showing guests the authentic Lucca, from underground wine tastings to that special beach club in Forte dei Marmi.
