Lucca, Italy

We’re off to Lucca today, but not before a run thru the streets of Florence.
Luckily there are some flat sections along the Arno river, so we headed off there for a leisurely waddle.
Time to pack, which we are getting pretty good at, and by taxi to the train station.
The ticket to Lucca was €7.10, which is pretty much the cheapest thing we have done in Italy. We had considered hiring a car at a cost of about €200 for 3 days, so the cheap regional rail was proven quite the booster for our ailing coffers!
Lucca is famous for, amongst other reasons, its intact Renaissance-era city walls which surround the old city, outside the walls is a sea of grass.
It’s very beautiful, peaceful, and lacking the maddening crowds of Florence.
Lucca is also famous for hosting the annual Lucca Summer Festival.
The 2013 edition sees Neil Young, Mark Knopfler, The Killers, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, 30 seconds to Mars, Sigur Ros, and others play live in the Piazza Napoleone during the months of July/August.
At one point during our travels, as we looked at an ancient amphitheatre somewhere (can’t remember exactly where now!) I said to Rachael “how good would this place be if Nick Cave or Sigur Ros played a concert here?”
I mentioned a couple of other bands as well…but never let the facts get in the way of the story!
Well, bugger me….Sigur Ros are playing tomorrow night!!!
In an outside amphitheatre setting.
In an historic old walled city.
In Italy!
Tickets please.
For those who don’t know, Sigur Rós are an Icelandic post-rock band from Reykjavík, who have been active since 1994. Known for their ethereal sound, frontman Jónsi Birgisson’s falsetto vocals, and the use of bowed guitar, the band’s music is also noticeable for its incorporation of classical and minimalist aesthetic elements.
Ah, the beauty of copy/paste!
They sing mostly in either Icelandic, or their own made up version of that language.
So, we are off to see an Icelandic band, singing Icelandic (sort of), in Italy.
How do you reckon us Aussies are going to go, language wise?
Seriously, their music is absolutely beautiful , a wave of surrealism drifting over you, orchestral, choral, haunting…..
Can’t wait.
Rachael still a little sketchy on the finer details….not much in the way of ‘doof-doof!
Our Apartment has 6 bikes which can be used at any time to get around Lucca. Perfect, just what we needed after walking all day to go and buy some provisions. Grabbed our things, went to the garage to grab a couple of bikes, only to find that they were all gone, obviously being used by the other guests who had the same idea…damn it, more walking.
Our quest for a local supermarket went unfulfilled and after 45 minutes of walking around, we gave up, went home and got ready for dinner. Provisions will have to wait until the morning when the bikes are hopefully available.
We had a lovely dinner at a quaint little restaurant recommended by the owners of our apartment. The only down side was the wine menu which only had their own wine. Decided to try their white wine, which we both thought tasted a little like apple cider, suffice to say it was not one of the better white’s we have had in Italy.
Back to the Piazza for a late night Spritzer before heading home with the intention of being up at 6am tomorrow for a bike ride around Lucca in peace and quiet.