The Terrific3 travel blog

I’ve been to Rome, Florence and Venice before, so it was really my wish to see a new place in Italy. I’ve had this dream of doing a bed and breakfast farm stay in Tuscany, taking cooking classes and riding bikes along the roads of Tuscany.

So today was a nod to that day, though not exactly as imagined. The boys didn’t really want to go to Lucca this morning as they didn’t really see the point. And when we got off the train, S immediately said he didn’t like it. I told them to give it a chance. That travel is sometimes about exploring and not knowing what you’ll discover and you’re allowed to not like a place but not as soon as you step into it. That everything deserves a chance.

We ended up having such a special day. Lucca is this lovely Tuscan town, where toilet paper was invented, of all places, surrounded by a tall wall all around the city. The wall is special as it is 30 feet wide and people bike and walk on it.

We walked into town, had some of the best pizza we’ve had in Italy at an unassuming place called Da Umberto. It was fresh and light and fast and absolutely delicious.

This was followed by renting a group cycle for an hour and doing a family cycle ride around the wall. This was so fun and a great family activity and both boys enjoyed it. Z especially loved steering and sonu loved speeding it up and slowing it down in the back to see how we would react. We got gorgeous views of the city and countryside from on top of the walls.

This was immediately followed by gelato and walking around the cute Xmas market at Piazza Napoleano.

The train to Lucca took an extra hour due to track troubles.

On the way back, we stopped by a local restaurant in Florence for dinner. It is near the Duomo and when we walked by yesterday, I saw someone putting on a record old school style with the music playing in a quaint restaurant and I immediately made a reservation. No loud rock music or people smoking outside (which happens all over Italy). Just a charming place

So back to bistrot 74 we went today and it was seriously the best most mouth watering meal we’ve have in Italy. Zucchini flan with a cream cheese blueberry sauce (WOW!), Italian peas with onion (how do peas taste that good), seriously the softest pillowiest gnocchi in a Gorgonzola sauce and penne in a four cheese truffle sauce (this was also good but everything else was just even better). We even eyed someone’s spaghetti and they made it look so appetizing. And then dessert… and then the waiter treated me to a tasty limoncello and the boys to a nonalcoholic version. The service, the ambience, the meal… we sat there for almost 2 hours, which never happens with kids. The kids were awed by the meal too. I’ve figured out the trick—I ask the kids to trust me and let me order for the family. It cuts out the extra food we don’t need, balances things better, eliminates indecision, and also gets them to try things they never would’ve if they had read the menu…like zucchini flan!

Anyways, we are already reserved at the restaurant for tomorrow, our last night in Florence!

We are now headed to bed and Z is mad at me… who knows why. We did manage another 12 miles of walking today, and it that’s despite 4 hours of sitting on a train and 2.5 hours of sitting for meals. Pretty amazing and the kids are really troopers but the end of the day, we are all pretty tuckered out.

Tomorrow…last day in Firenze….long run by the river, xmas market (I’m eyeing some jewelry), climbing the Duomo, and whatever other adventures await us…