Lucca
September 30 – October 1, 2003
Friendly Little Place
Conny had recommended
Lucca as a friendly little place, and so it turned out. The center of the city
is well defined by a ring of city walls. The walls actually don’t seem too
imposing – with their gentle slopes, grass cover, and jogging trail on top
they remind me more of the sound barrier that’s supposed to protect our neighborhood
in Stuttgart from freeway noise. Inside the walls, a typical medieval maze
of narrow streets, interrupted by a number of pleasant plazas. 
One
main shopping street, with numerous upscale shops catering to tourists, several
minor ones, quite a few churches and towers – it doesn’t take long to get a
feel for the place.
I
hang out at the place for two days. Tourist duties are quickly taken care of:
there are a few churches, the tower with the trees, a little museum with some
very interesting wood inlay work. This leaves enough time to catch up on some
reading, write a few pages, back up my photos (excellent idea, since a few
days later my computer starts failing), do shopping and laundry. During day
time I encounter quite a few tourists, mostly German; after 19:00, when most
stores close, the town becomes eerily quiet.