Viareggio & Lucca

 
So this morning I had a nice breakfast at the B&B and the owner Anna, made me some of that cake from the day before but I imagine because it was a day old she toasted it in the oven and put anise on it. My mom is reading this thinking my Aunt Chichy would have done the same thing and it was a delicious morning treat.

I was off to the seaside town of Viareggio which is only a 20 minute train ride. I wore my bathing suit anticipating getting in the water and after a short 10 minute walk to the beach past lovely small buildings that reminded me of just about any seaside town I've visited in the world. It even reminded me a little of Atlantic City. I think the premise of building these towns is all the same, make it pleasing and easy to get around for tourists and you'll never lack for an income.

There were a few street fairs and even a flea market, again my mom and friend Charlene would have been so happy. I of course didn't buy anything but I did look a little.

I also came across a wedding. The bride was just coming out of the car with her dad to go into the church. It's funny, I wasn't the only one who stopped to take a picture. She was so beautiful and if you look closely at the entrance of the church you'll see her gorgeous gown from the back. What a perfect day for a wedding.

I found a beach house called Marco Polo because you can't go on the beach if you don't pay. Well there is this tiny, and I mean tiny (about 15 feet across) span of beach at the end that is public but if you want to have a locker to secure your belongings and a place to sit you pay 6.00 euros and you're all set. So that's what I did and this charming, young blonde man got me settled with a secure locker and took me down to the beach and found me a nice chair and secured me a prefect spot in the sun. Well he presumed it was perfect and that I wanted to be relaxing in the sun but I just moved the chair under and umbrella when he left.

And then it was time to swim, hurray!!! The water was cool but so clean and beautiful and lots of people but not so many it was annoying. I'm sure in the height of summer there is no where to move but it was just a perfect sunny day and great for swimming.

After I had rested and played in the water awhile I headed to the cabanas and reclaimed my stuff which was safe and sound. Showered and changed into my dry clothes and I was off for a walk and to find lunch.  I came across this great place that had a prefix 3 course meal for 10 euros and it was amazing and came with water as well because that's always and added expense. It came with cafe also but I don't drink it so none for me. I had salmon pasta, fabulous; fish in a red sauce with caper, also fabulous and a yummy fresh salad and this incredible fresh bread that was so incredible and crunchy. Oh, I do love good food because of that I had to take a walk and ended up at the train station and headed back to Lucca.

I meant another lovely couple who had just arrived from Denver, Colorado. When I say just arrived they left the day before from Denver flew to Dallas then flew to Munich where they changed to a smaller plane that flew to Genoa (that tiny airport literally in the center of the city that I mentioned in my Genoa blog) and then a cab to the train station and then a train to where I met them in Viareggio where they were picking up the same train I was taking. As you can imagine I had to ask what were they thinking when they booked that and they said it wasn't them it was their travel agent who booked their cruise leaving Venice in a weeks time. So yes, they get on another train to go to Venice in 3 days. But they seemed no worse for the wear and I showed them how to get out of the station at Lucca with the most ease when carrying luggage.

So back to the B&B I went and showered and was dressed in fresh clothes and out the door in about 20 minutes. No rest for the weary traveler, I had to do laundry and the little laundry mat I did my wash at last time I was here was a perfect spot. The soap and everything is already in the machine, it's fabulous.  So while my wash did it's thing I chatted, with difficulty, to a young Italian couple who spoke no English. The girl is one month pregnant and only 23 and her husband of only 5 months is 28. Yes, that was a lot of info to get with no English. And they only met 8 months ago and like I said only married 5 months. It's a world wind romance but the husband cut is leg and is wearing a full cast to his knee. Anyway, they were very nice but I have to say that every time the wife, Roberta, went out to the car to put the dry laundry away her husband was totally flirting with me. They are insatiable this Italian men. His wife is pregnant and he was complementing me and I was just looking at him like "are you serious!"  It's just the way of the Italian male world and best was he was saying how his first wife, the mother of his daughter, Ansistasia, was cheating on him over and over again so he had to get a divorce. Sometimes you just have to shake your head it is all so crazy. But anyway, they were very nice and they kept me occupied while we all did our wash.

So then I was off to church at 7pm right across the street. A lovely little church with so many people. The place was packed with only standing room. There were at least 300 people. I wish I could have understood what the priest was saying he seemed very engaging. And there was the sweetest mother and daughter next to me. The mother must be at least 80 and the daughter in her 50's but they were so lovely, especially the mother who has clearly gone blind but just beautiful.  Beauty is not about perfectly smooth skin because you could just see the joy in this women's face and the wrinkles only made her more beautiful.

So now, as I write this, I am sitting outside on a bench in the middle of the walkway to the park on the wall. There are hundreds of people, old, young and very young just walking and talking and there is a warm breeze and live music with a singer coming from the expensive restaurant up the hill. It's just perfect and even the mosquitoes aren't bothering me too much.

History of Viareggio (from TripAdvisor):

The first people in the area of Viareggio were Etruscan in origin. Later, the Romans came and established the first true settlements using hydraulic works to tame the harsh marshland on the coast northwest of Pisa. The area was largely uninhabitable, though, until around the middle of the 15th-century when nearby citizens decided to better facilitate naval landings that would enable trade and commerce. A massive drainage effort was begun to make the lands tolerable. At the time, the area was ruled by the city of Lucca, which lies directly east of Viareggio. They were responsible for the construction of the di Matilde tower, which has become the city's symbol and principle landmark. 
    Later, in the middle of the 16th-century, the city came under the rule of Florence and the area prospered economically. The Medicis used the marble quarried in the area to construct the church of San Lorenzo in Florence, a project of Michelangelo's.
    Tourism came to the area in the latter half of the 19th-century, when "bathing towns" were established to which people would retreat to relax. Viareggio built a promenade along the beach known as Torre di Via Regia, and visitors began to come to the town in increasing numbers. Like this, Viareggio eventually developed into the popular tourist resort area it is today.