April 1

What a crappy day. April Fools! It was a fantastic day, jam-packed with all kinds of Tuscany lovin' with Mom and Grandma. We had an early morning. We met at the Duomo (yes, Thelma and Louise navigated themselves to the Duomo without any help) and Mom and I climbed to the top. Though it was my second time seeing Brunelleschi's dome up close and personal, it was still a "worth it" experience. When my goofy mother was looking at the art on the dome, she pointed out the depiction of the devil to an Italian family by saying "Diablo!" in her scariest, devil voice. Diablo, ladies and gentlemen, is a Spanish word and I cracked up at the unsuspecting faces of the family. We met back up with Grandma (who totally would have crushed those 463 steps to the top!) and went to see Santa Croce--the second most famous church in Florence. Then, we honed in our inner, spontaneous travelers and decided to walk to the train station and hop on a train to Lucca. It was Grandma's first time on a train! A quick nap and an hour and a half later, we arrived at the walls of the city. I went to Lucca with Maggie and Kelsey just a few weeks before, but it was a freezing and rainy day. Lucca is a different place in the sun. Families were out in full force, riding their bikes and walking along the wide city walls. It was simply lovely to see all of the Easter weekend love and togetherness (sounds a bit like a bad 60s song, but I assure you it was nothing like that). We walked through the tree-lined streets and stumbled upon a food market selling all types of local meats, cheeses, pastries, and sauces. I can't say too much more about the market, or else some of my loyal readers won't be surprised by their gift souvenirs. We searched for a lunch place and stumbled upon a place called Trattoria da Leo. We stopped in when we heard ample Italian and saw it was packed. A short wait for a table later, and we were sitting in a packed dining room, filled with Italian families and their children. It was a true, authentic experience to see husbands and wives feed each other with a shared fork across the tables, with their children happily eating their spaghetti. The three of us feasted on fresh bread, mixed salads, stewed beans, farro soup, and roasted vegetables.We were laughing as two young, red-headed twin girls stared at me with huge eyes from their table. We only assumed it was because of the strange language they heard me speaking. We explored Lucca and walked along the walls until our 4:30 train. We were pooped on the way home and, of course, had a child with ADD (allegedly) sitting behind us. We returned to Florence and Mom negotiated for a beautiful brown leather purse in San Lorenzo market. Dinner was courtesy of Kitsch aperitivo. We were graced with the lovely Kelsey, too. I told Grandma she was the fifth character in Sex and the City, as she ordered a Cosmopolitan for her drink. I think the ladies loved the buffet--especially the gigantic fruit salad for dessert. I said good night and wished them a fabulous time on their day trip to Siena tomorrow. I am truly going to miss them tomorrow!