After a few days in Parma, where we able to buy an Italian cell phone, we drove down to Lucca to stay for a few days with Doris. The majority of the drive was great: we drove through Emilia Romagna, Tuscany, Liguria, and back into Tuscany. Along the way, as we drove South, we could see the ocean on our right and huge mountains, the Apuane Alps, on the left that were covered with what appeared to be snow. Turns out it was not snow, but actually marble! This area (near Liguria and Toscana around the city of La Spezia) is one of the largest producers of marble. We had a very confusing ride from Lucca to Tofori, the mountain town where Doris lives which is about 21 km from Lucca. There were lots of roads wide enough for only one car but were actually two laned roads!
Doris has a great little "inn" in the mountains of Lucca. A renovated mill, there is a stream running below the house and our apartment had a glass "window" in the floor where you could see the stream below. It was really beautiful! Friday night, we went with Doris and Doug and a couple from Minnesota that was also staying with Doris to a restaurant further up the mountain. The food was great: we had a traditional pasta made from semolina with a pesto sauce; a totellini type dish with meat; and a roasted meat platter. Doris took Reed and I into the kitchen so Reed could meet the chef, Lido. We are going back to Lucca at the end of the month to watch Lena, Doris' dog, and Lido said Reed can work in the kitchen then!
Saturday, Doris called her friend Gianlucca Pardini, a well known chef who has a cooking school for foreigners in Lucca. He agreed to meet with Reed and gave Reed the name of 7 restaurants in Siena that he should apply for jobs at. He was unbelievably nice and helpful!
The rest of Saturday we walked around Lucca with Oliver, turns out Oliver hates butcher shops and any store that sells raw meat (Reed thinks it might be the smell of blood). Below there is a picture of one of the stores he hated the most. Everytime we walked by any of these stores he would flip out! We were really excited to walk around the walls of Lucca, but they were not as pretty in real life as in all the pictures.
Doris has a great little "inn" in the mountains of Lucca. A renovated mill, there is a stream running below the house and our apartment had a glass "window" in the floor where you could see the stream below. It was really beautiful! Friday night, we went with Doris and Doug and a couple from Minnesota that was also staying with Doris to a restaurant further up the mountain. The food was great: we had a traditional pasta made from semolina with a pesto sauce; a totellini type dish with meat; and a roasted meat platter. Doris took Reed and I into the kitchen so Reed could meet the chef, Lido. We are going back to Lucca at the end of the month to watch Lena, Doris' dog, and Lido said Reed can work in the kitchen then!
Saturday, Doris called her friend Gianlucca Pardini, a well known chef who has a cooking school for foreigners in Lucca. He agreed to meet with Reed and gave Reed the name of 7 restaurants in Siena that he should apply for jobs at. He was unbelievably nice and helpful!
The rest of Saturday we walked around Lucca with Oliver, turns out Oliver hates butcher shops and any store that sells raw meat (Reed thinks it might be the smell of blood). Below there is a picture of one of the stores he hated the most. Everytime we walked by any of these stores he would flip out! We were really excited to walk around the walls of Lucca, but they were not as pretty in real life as in all the pictures.
Click on the pictures to make them larger
Doris' house-Il Mulino
The window in "our" room
The "window" in the floor at Doris'
The church in Tofori
The store Ollie hated!
Piazza Anfiteatro 
Torre Guinigi
The Walls- these are the preserved walls that surround Lucca-roughly 1.8 milesLucca is a great little city and we enjoyed visiting.
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