Italy

It’s difficult to find time to edit photos, write text and get on the web to upload, so I’m combining two days into one blog entry.

First, we met a friend named Fulvio Notarstefano. I know Fulvio from my wet plate photography board. He lives in Lucca. He spent the day with us. He showed us Lucca and we had lunch together. He also gave us one of his wet plate Collodion images and a nice bottle of wine (Italians are so friendly!). Lucca is beautiful (Bella Italia!) It’s very unique in that EVERYTHING is old! It’s all original stuff. The architecture is gorgeous and the little alleys are amazing.

Later, we went to the train station and got on a train to Firenze (Florence). It’s about 50 km from Lucca, but takes 1.5 hours by train because it stops a lot. Jean and Summer had tickets to the opera of La Boheme by Giacomo Puccini (Pucinni is from Lucca) at 18 Maggio street in Firenze (Florence). I watched Lucky (strolled him around the city at night) while they were at the opera. I ended up at a café (sitting outside) talking to an English couple for almost two hours. I drank a couple of glasses of “Bianco Toscono” (they even bought me one). I enjoyed it very much. Jean and Summer liked the opera too, we got back to the hotel at about 0130.

Yesterday, we drove into Pisa. It’s only six miles from where we are staying. Pisa is a great city. It’s a lot like Lucca but with the “Torre de Pisa” (Leaning Tower of Pisa). We had to get some “super kitsch” from this lady. She was about four feet tall and had huge teeth. Her “super kitsch” was cheap and interesting. Not that we like to buy kitsch, but we have made it kind of a “tradition” to buy “super kitsch” at the heavy tourist spots. As long as it’s cheap and inexpensive, we’ll buy a few pieces.

The Leaning Tower of Pisa has a big beautiful grass (park) where you can sit/lay in the shade of the tower. We “chillaxed” there for a while and then wandered down the road and found a nice café called, “De Mura da Nomma Teta” on Largo Pariascio 33/34 – Pisa. And yes, pizza and wine DO taste different (much better!!) in Italy.

Inside one of the MANY churches in Lucca.

I was very intriguied with several of these kinds of alleys. This has posters for a Firenze art show.

I loved these paintings you see on the churches in Lucca. They are beautiful.

This is one of my favorite pictures. I've made a habit of shooting portraits in these reflective disks. Left to right; Fulvio, Summer, Quinn, Jean and Lucky (below).


The Leaning Tower of Lucky! Pisa, Italy.

An empty street in Lucca during "siesta". Italians KNOW how to live.

The Jacobsons in the Torre park... no hands leaning against the tower, NO!!

Down the road from the tower....

Molto bella! Italian kitsch lady! Oh, so many torres and super kitsch!

A tunnel through the wall of Lucca... very interesting history!

Walking on TOP of the walls of the city of Lucca.

Can you guess what this is??? It's in Pisa.

Old bike in Lucca. I'm attracted to these views... I don't know why... they are harmless and innocuos.

Four nuns late for church in Lucca.