We have been in Lucca for two weeks, and day-by-day all the leaves have been falling from the trees. Now, the trees are almost bare and sitting here on a park bench on an overcast day, it's finally chilly. Winter is arriving, but we give ourselves away as foreigners by still just wearing our jumpers. We have spent two great weeks at Lucca Italian School and my brain is ready to explode. In two weeks I have learnt more Italian than in five years of learning Frenc...

Ciao from Lucca! Well we've been here for nearly three weeks, and on Thursday we finally move on from Lucca. Next stop - Bologna. I'm sure Bologna is wonderful, but I can't help feeling a bit sad at the thought of leaving this town. I love it here. Lucca doesn't have a "big" tourist attraction - there's no Ponte Vecchio, Leaning Tower or Colosseum. There's no single area that feels overcrowded with tourists, and there's nowhere that you get the impression Itali...