Our day in Lucca was fantastic. We got up early, collected our notes and made our way to the car. Brian read the manual and found out a solution for the driver alert system. It is now located on the opposite side of the backseat.

The GPS told us to go through the other side of town, which was great as we had the opportunity to see the countryside and Villa's. They really were beautiful. The roads are very windy, narrow and steep, so Brian did a great job of driving. However, he will need to read the manual once again as the alert started once more. This time it had a different message though. "Slow Down, you are speeding". I would suggest the relocation set of the speedo detection sensor" created the issue but I haven't had time to look up the error messages, but I will work on it.

Brian's homework worked a treat as we landed just outside the main station in Central Lucca, and just outside the old town. The girls went down to the tourist office, sorted out the parking and we were on our way.

The first impression you get of the old town is its size. The outer walls are huge, it must have taken a mighty army of people to build them. Inside, it is typical of its day, with a town square, and palace. There are many Churches (which are beautiful structures in their own right) located throughout the town.

Lucca, also is the home of Puccini, and you see this very good copper statue of him in one of the squares, which the Opera House named after him is located. They have Opera festivals each summer in his honour

We had a great lunch in one of the many restaurants situated in the town square and around the town. We took a stroll along the designated tourist trails, came across a torture museum. We just stuck our head around the corner, to see the guillotine they had on display. This one was the last used in France, which was in the mid-1800's. I was keen to see a demonstration, but volunteers were hard to come by.

We kept walking, and eventually found the palace gardens. I have included a picture of it in this blog. They were one of 4 gardens in the town and were really pretty and well kept. Quite serene really with the fountains working in the background. I know I have said it before, but it is really hard to take in the age of these structures. The wall for instance would be 1800 years old, yet they are still in good condition.

We left Lucca fairly late, as we enjoyed it so much. We hadn't long gone down the road when we had our first issue, as the maps in the GPS were not up to date. We couldn't turn where we were supposed to, so all the alerts sounded. Eventually it got sorted, and the driver alert switched itself off.

On the whole we had a good trip back, coming a different way again which meant we got to see more of the great scenery.

The girls prepared some cheese and biscuits, and we all sat down had a few drinks and laughs about our day.