With only one full day left, we decided to just relax at Villa Cafaggiolo. We had bright sunshine and having had no previous opportunity to use the pool -- we jumped in! It was cold, but we adjusted. We once again ventured down to the local trattoria for an excellent lunch. After lunch, we decided to just drive around the local countryside. We were pleasantly surprised to find a very scenic mountain park, Valombrosa, within the area. It was very cool at the top of the mountain, but we were able to brave it for excellent and very inexpensive gelato! We spent our last evening relaxing at the villa by reading books.
The last day -- we had to be checked out by 10am on Saturday, June 9th. We headed out toward Pisa for our flight. We hit a traffic jam on the main road due to construction, so we ventured out into the countryside on little roads to Lucca. We had wanted to take our son to Lucca on Thursday, but decided we didn't have time. We made it to Lucca in time for a late lunch at a very nice restaurant, Buca di San Antonio, founded in 1782!
We wandered around Lucca (flat instead of hills) and I snapped lots of photos. The old city walls have been converted into pedestrian and biking paths, complete with shade trees and comfortable benches -- and great views of Lucca. http://www.comune.lucca.it/
With all these photos of Lucca, we say Ciao to Italy.
We flew back from Pisa through Gatwick where we spent the night (arriving 2am) at the Hilton Gatwick...luxurious, got rested up before flying back to RDU on June 10th.
