Today I rode to Lucca. . .

One of the best bargains in the world has to be the 5 euro ticket for the 90 minute train ride from Firenze to Lucca. The ride bisects the region's greenhouse and nursery farms, with a stop at Le Cirque's Sirio Maccioni's Montecatini, which he lovingly and poignantly describes in his autobiography: My Life and Le Cirque.

Farther on, Lucca is a treasure of a town; birthplace of Giacomo Puccini, with music festivals and concerts throughout the year, streets full of small, elegant shops and cafes within it's thick mure (walls). Today I walked the path along the top of the walls, and enjoyed wandering all over the busy town, which this weekend is having an even larger-than-usual antiques fair with the vendors spread out over most of the central streets.

I had a glass of wine at the perfectly Italian Caffe di Simo on Via Fillungo, and chatted with a man selling beautiful Italian linens who dreams of coming to New York.

The pastry shops in Lucca are exquisite and the Luccese seem to enjoy them guilt-free at all hours of the day.

I got back to Firenze around 8pm and stopped in at a streetside pizza joint (let's be honest), and the man working the counter wrapped my pizza-to-go as lovingly and thoroughly as can be. Like I was carrying it on to the Queen. . . .

Yes, it's a strange and wonderful country, one too where small and not-so-small, fussy, whining and crying children are lavished with praise and kisses by parents and grandparents alike.

In my next life, I hope to live in a palazzo smack dab in the center of Lucca. . .