In Mogliano with Kay!!!

Yesterday I was up early and packed in about 15 minutes. Must be used to it by now. Caught the train to Lucca (had to change twice) wherby I assumed there would be a Left Luggage. But no, it was in the Tourist Info Office inside the walls of the town. So off I went & discovered there are 2 Tourist Bureaus & I of course had picked the wrong one first. Trundled to the other & was very relieved to dump my pack for a few hours.

Lucca is still fully walled, but strangely its not simply round or oval. Regularly the walls bulge out in the shape of a spade (cards wise) with the point outwards. You can walk all the way around the walls & its not like ramparts - more like an avenue! Tree lined road that has parks where the "spades" are. People cycle & walk around, and there are many stairs & ramps to acces the streets below.

Went to a very unexciting museum, rang Jen - great to catch up! Then climbed to one of the 2 towers that give a view over Lucca. Cant say I was looking fofrward to 250 steps but in fact it seemed like a breeze after the thousand Id climbed the day before. Mainly you see rooftops crammed together, chruch towers, and then mounain ranges in the background past the new city buildings. However I allso wanted to get a birdseye view of something else. Lucca was a roman town & over time, houses have been built in place of the arena - in the same oval shape. So in the middle of the lines ofnarrow laneways theres this oval of buildings. walked down there and what do you know, its Art & Craft market day! Hooray!

Forgot to mention that not only was the market in town, but initially I wondered why there were all these tents. I had stumbled into a 5 day Comic & Games Fair. It had taken over the main part of town.

Had a quick look at Puccinis house from the outside as its closed for restoration. Had to be satisfied with his statue in the square out the front. Apparently he wrote Madam Butterfly right there...

After that it was pretty much collect bag & head to station. Lucca to Firenze (Florence to the uninformed) was about an hour & a half & then to Venezia was 3 hours. Had to change to a local train and go one more stop to get to Kay so arrived around quarter past 9. Its great to see her! Amazing we didnt see each other for about 5 years & now its been 3 times in 15 months. Went to a bar for a while with a friend of hers but talked more when we came home & got to bed around 1.30am I think. Shes currently at a lesson she couldnt change so Im lounging round her flat.

Oh yes, the cold snap has arrived. Everyone around here last night was wearing scarves, big coats etc. And when we woke up, Kay said it was 1 degree! At least I will get to use my long sleeve shirts again. I posted some things home, but can borrow if necessary.

Kay has offered to have me again next Friday night, which is great as I have an early flight 7am Saturday morning back to Paris. And they have a taxi driver who will take me to the airport!

That's enough! Thanks for all the news & texts. yes, Gayelene, I got your text thanks - another good Werribee Cup by the sounds. Have a great time in Bright - my new tent will have to wait another year to go there.

And Sal, I've got your texts too - sorry you haven't been able to blog comment. But that's OK because texts are a treat to wake up to.

Lol, Bella (have to revert to my Italian name) xxx