On our drive today, we found a little Olive Oil factory and got a personal tour. It was pretty awesome and tasty, and that olive oil and balsamic was a staple on the rest of our trip.
As we were driving, we had big decisions to make.
We kind of hated the Italian Riviera.
Actually…we REALLY hated the Italian Riviera. It was dirty, you had to pay money to get on every road, there were too many people..it was honestly a total bust! So today, we decided to go inland to Tuscany and drive south. Our decision was a good one, because we found Lucca!
Oh…Lucca!!!
We love you.
Lucca was at the top of a hill, behind a medieval wall. It was small and quaint. It was charming and Italian. It was heaven sent.
The cafes were yummy.
The patisserie was visited three times by this crew.
We happened upon the perfect shop for Scout!
The girls and I were in desperate need of a good blowout.
So daddy treated us!
Micah found an Italian shop he was excited about — and got a few new ties.
Pippi got gelato and plopped for a rest in her new Italian sandals.
It was a great afternoon. We loved Lucca!
I mean — look at these water fountains that the local restaurants were filling their water carafes with. It was the coldest and cleanest tasting water on earth.
And the kids were in their happy place as they adventured all over this town. Scout challenged everyone to walk these handrails. They did it successfully several times until Navy tried to cross and her foot slipped, and she came down on her side with full force. For several hours, we were concerned that maybe she had broken a rib or had something internally going on. Her reaction was intense and almost silent. She struggled to get a full breath of air for hours, but it started to get a little better so we just watched it. It ended up being really bruised and tender for a week, but thank goodness there was no horrible injury!
As we were driving away from Lucca, we decided to park again and stop for dinner. Micah, the research genius found maybe our best food of the trip.
Just like Pippi, we all licked our plates spotless clean.
As we drove away from Lucca, we all said that leaving the coast to drive inland, was the best decision we made!
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