February into March

Clear blue skies and orange trees, beautiful a this time of year

The week when February turns into early March is a fickle one here in Lucca.   Some days are downright gloomy with gray skies, rain, and wind.  If you’re fortunate enough to have a fireplace (I am not, I admit to a bit of envy when I see smoke billowing out of a chimney), then a warm fire, a cup of coffee, and a book are just the thing.  Then, suddenly, a day of blue skies and sunshine comes along, teasing the notion of spring, only to be followed by a chilly day with clouds but no rain. 

Even within the same day, chilly mornings still require the radiator to be turned on, while warmer afternoons encourage the opening of windows.  One hardly knows how to dress – winter coat or light jacket?  Warmest scarf or lighter weight one?  In Italy it is most definitely still scarf season – after all, no Italian wants to get that hit of cold air on the throat which surely would lead to illness. 

Should I throw my gloves in my purse when going out in the evening ?  Chissa! (who knows).  All I know is that I am not yet packing away my winter clothing just yet.

The view of Palazzo Pfanner from Lucca’s wall, is always a welcome sight on my return to Lucca.

The nice thing about this time of year is that, unless it is rainy, it’s perfect weather for a walk on the walls surrounding the city center.  The trees are still mostly bare, with just the tiniest leaf buds, but the wildflowers are beginning to bloom. The mountains are visible in the distance through the bare trees.  Mothers walk (or jog) the wall with babies in strollers, dogs explore the new foliage, little kids ride bikes and so do adults. 

Since I’ve just returned to Lucca after 6 weeks away, I enjoy walking through town and along the walls to discover what is new or for the reassurance that some things are unchanged.

In town, the Magnolia trees burst into bloom last week, a recurring yearly event that is the first hint of spring. They only last a couple of weeks (less is the weather is awful) and seeing them against a blue sky is nature’s artistry at its best. We were lucky to have such a day last week!

Magnolias in bloom along Corso Garibaldi in Lucca, last week of February, 2026

Flowering bulbs and spring herbs have appeared in the flower shops, and bright purple artichokes fill baskets at the ortofrutta (green grocers).

On the walls is a new art piece - La Luna Innamorata (The Moon in Love). Colorful and larger than life, the scupture is part of a wellness and health initiative of the group Amici del Cuore. Finding new art installations in “real” spaces around town, where they are accessible to all, is one of my favorite things in Lucca.

The Boldini exhibit will be in town through early June

Early March is also the time to anticipate what is to come.  Art exhibitions are ongoing, perfect indoor activities to be enjoyed on a not-so-perfect day. Soon, it will be time for the Camellia Festival.  Later in the spring we’ll have the annual spring garden show followed by a classical music festival in May.

For me, March means that I will head to Trieste next week. Trieste lies in the region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, one of Italy’s 5 “home rule” regions.  It is a unique area, part of Italy and yet more autonomous, with a location closer to Slovenia than to Rome. I am looking forward to spending two weeks there attending an intensive language program and exploring the region. I have been told to be prepared for sea views, windy weather, and great cafes with outstanding coffee.  Sounds perfect.  I’ll let you know!

February in Italy, 2026

Watching the Olympic Games in Italy these past few weeks, one would think all of Italy was a snowy alpine landscape. 

Lots of snow in and around Cortina d”Ampezzo for the Olympic Events.

But that is just a small slice of northern Italy and certainly not the case in Lucca, where I returned last week to wet and windy weather.  Not a snowflake or an Olympic athlete in sight, just plenty of rain and gray skies. No matter – I love Lucca in February when the city is quiet and mostly tourist free.  And this week has been very quiet, with the excitement of Carnevale now over and the season of Lent just begun.

Only traces of Carnevale remained when I arrived  – a few of the installations around town, along with some left-over confetti sprinkled in the piazzas.  All are getting a bit soggy from the recent days of rain. The paper mâché figures in the train (pictured below) are looking a bit scary as they slowly decompose.

Here in Lucca, even school kids know to carry umbrellas. This group certainly needed them when their school let out for lunch break on a rainy winter afternoon.

In this sleepy period between Carnevale and Easter most of the color comes not from floats and dancers, nor from spring flowers. Right now the color comes mostly from umbrellas.  Though I am happy to report that after two solid days of rain, today we have clear blue skies and temps in the 50’s. Tuscan blue is the perfect sky color.

February weather is just right for a caffè in an uncrowded bar, dinner with friends, or to watch Italy’s next big event on TV.

The San Remo Music Festival begins on February 24th, with 5 nights of televised musical performances.  Singers will perform original songs and eventually a winner will be chosen, in part from viewers’ votes.  The winner will represent Italy in the big Eurovision competition in May.  Past winners include some of Italy’s biggest musical stars and most popular songs.

This year a series of promotional TV ads, named Tutti Cantano San Remo (Everyone Sings San Remo), was filmed in the piazzas of 7 cities across Italy.  Each used local musicians and singers, in flash mob type sequences, singing well known Italian songs. 

Lucca was one of the chosen cities (along with Trento, Parma, Torino, Pesaro, Roma, and Cosenza) and many of us turned out to watch the filming. The ads are running now on Rai TV in the lead up to the festival.  It’s always fun to see the finished product, much more polished than the multiple takes we watched during filming. For a look at the ads, the San Remo Festival has a Facebook page, or just google Tutti Cantano San Remo - the ads are really fun.

As February winds down, I will begin to dream of Magnolia blossoms, warming skies, signs of spring, and an upcoming trip to Trieste in March.  But for now, I will just enjoy catching up with friends, sipping a cappuccino, and being out and about during Lucca’s quiet season, rain or shine.

Is there any color more beautiful than the blue of a Tuscan sky? Even the bare trees look gorgeous on a February day against a cloudless blue sky in Lucca.

Daydreaming of Spring in Italy

Cloudy and cold in Albuquerque. I need some spring!

Most years I am well into February before the “winter blahs” hit me, but for some reason they’ve come early this year.  It might just be the weather - the last 24 hours have brought cold, rain, hail, gray skies, and overnight snow to New Mexico where I am visiting my family this month. 

Today it is cold, windy, and overcast with intermittent snowflakes. Usually snowy days in New Mexico are gorgeous, especially once the sun comes out and makes everything sparkle. But today there is not enough snow to create a pretty winter scene and no clearing skies to bring the sparkle.  It is just cold and dreary.  It is a good day to stay inside, sip some chai, write a blog post, and daydream about spring – sunshine, green leaves on trees, flowers – along with spring travel plans.  And that is exactly what I am doing today.  

These little yellow blossoms are one of the first signs of spring along Lucca’s walls

As for travel, I am finalizing plans for spending two weeks in Trieste in early March with a friend from Albuquerque. It is a part of Italy that I have never visited, with a unique culture that is part Italian and part Eastern European.  I have been warned that it will still be chilly and quite windy, so may not quite bring me the dose of spring I am craving but it does give me something to look forward to. The trip is centered around some time in a special language program for seniors age 60+ and it includes several excursions into the surrounding areas. I’ll let you know how it goes!

March is the time for Camellias, especially in the small village of Sant’Andrea di Compito

Flower art in Spello for the Infiorata (photo from the Le Infiorate website)

I will get the taste of spring I need in the first week of June when I will do a few days of cooking classes on an agriturismo outside of Perugia in Umbria.  That program will include a visit to the famous Infiorata in Spello, a celebration of the Feast of Corpus Domini, where the streets are paved in designs made from flower petals. .  Visiting Spello for the Infiorata has long been on my list of things to experience, and this is the first time the opportunity has worked out for me.  Definitely a spring event to look forward to.

April poppies in Umbria last spring

In the meantime, I am looking back on springtime photos from a variety of places in Italy.

The Iris garden in Florence is opened for just a few weeks in May each year

They are chasing away this gloomy, cold day and making me smile. 

I hope these hints of spring in Italy make you smile too.  And just maybe they will get you started planning some travel!

Parma is lovely in Spring, especially in the Giardino Ducal

Spring Tulips in Lucca

High Tea, Italian Style

The Marriott Grand Universe Hotel, Lucca

Lucca is a small town.  Unlike Florence or Rome it does not have a lot of high-end, super fancy hotels. There is however the Grand Universe, a Marriott branded hotel which was remodeled a few years ago from a classic though dated local hotel to a modern, upscale destination spot.  The roof top Champagne bar has amazing views and drink prices that may make you think you are in Rome.   It is a treat, but not my usual hangout.

What I did not know about the hotel is that they serve a lovely, and very reasonably priced, English-style afternoon tea.  Who knew !  Luckily, a friend of mine did and invited me to tea on a rainy early winter afternoon. Fancy teas are one of my favorite special occasion things to do, a posh break from everyday life.  There is a fabulous tearoom back in New Mexico, a must when I am there at Christmas time.  I’ve enjoyed tea on many travels over the years – England (of course), Paris, Budapest.   I have loved the high teas served on Viking Ocean cruises.  How is it that I had no idea about the elegant high tea served right here in Lucca?  A terrible miss on my part!

Without a doubt the Grand Universe serves the most bountiful tea I’ve ever been served.  More like a 4 (or 5) course meal.  Not that I am complaining!  Now, if you are one of those people that really do not like reading about food, or seeing photos of food, I recommend skipping the rest of this post because from here on out it is all about the food.

The tea service began with the opportunity to select from a variety of teas.  Darjeeling was my choice, loose tea leaves steeped in individual pots with slices of lemon or milk alongside.  While we waited for the tea to steep, the food began to arrive.   A classic 3 tier tray came first.  On top, savories.  There were 5 types of small tea sandwiches.  Some classic – triangles of cucumber with a creamy cheese and one with ham and mustard. 

There was a thinly sliced salmon on whole grain bread, one with bacon on a mini whole grain croissant, and an open faced avocado sandwich on a crispy sesame bread.  Luckily these were small – but they could have been a lunch all by themselves.  The next tier held some small pastries and the bottom tier was desserts.

On a return visit in December with a group of 4, platters took the place of the tiered serving dish and the selections were a bit different, but equally delicious.

Scones are a must a team so of course there were scones. They were served with cream and a house-made strawberry jam.  Wonderful!

Next were a variety of sweets – bite sized tarts (lemon, berry, cream-filled, orange) and larger individual apple tarts.   

Sounds like a full tea, right ? Not quite.  The chef appeared with a plate full of house made shortbread. Not one or two pieces, more like a dozen and way too many to eat after an already abundant tea.   Luckily the server offered to-go boxes and these perfect buttery cookies were tasty the next day alongside some coffee. 

On my second visit I told the chef how much I had enjoyed his shortbread and he graciously shared a copy of the recipe. I hope mine turn out half as good! 

And just when we thought we were finished, tea concluded with a final surprise - slices of a strawberry cream cake.

No way could we finish all the food served - but the leftovers meant a nice home tea the next day.

I was glad my friend warned me to skip lunch and arrive hungry!  On my return visit I gave my group of friends the same advice.  Each time we were glad to have those to-go boxes. 

Whether as an escape from an otherwise dreary November day, to celebrate a special occasion, or as part of a holiday celebration, tea at the Grand Universe is a treat.  And at €25 per person it is also an affordable luxury.

A December Visit to Florence

The weeks leading up to Christmas are always busy – this year seems more so than ever.   There have been holiday lunches and dinners, aperitivo evenings, fancy teas, holiday markets, even Santas arriving on Vespas.  Many visitors have arrived in the last few weeks, perfect timing to see Lucca all dressed up for Christmas and for us to enjoy some of the season together.

Amid all the December happenings, I managed to fit in a few days in Florence.  Florence is always a treat at Christma and this year was extra special as I was there with a friend who was experiencing her first holiday season in Italy.  

We only had two days in the city and a short list of “must do” things.  Mostly, we wanted to walk through the city enjoying the holiday lights, gaze at the window and shop decorations, have a couple of good meals, and do a little holiday shopping.  We also had tickets to visit the Fra Angelico exhibit at Palazzo Strozzi - it was outstanding and good kick-off to our weekend.

Walking through town, the windows were fascinating.  From upscale stores like Prada to pastry shops and small local merchants, the variety of displays made for a lot of stop and go and oohs and ahhs when walking through town.  One of my favorites was the edible window display at Caffè Gilli, below.

And the Christmas trees!  The one at the Duomo, set against the back drop of the the Cathedral and the Baptistery, was simple and beautiful. Different, but just as wonderful, was the one in Piazza Repubblica, which happened to be just outside the Hotel Pendini where we were staying. Located beside the carousel, it was even better at night when the tree’s ever changing colors were on full display.

Stopping at Gilli for an evening aperitivo was the perfect spot for viewing all the night-time happenings in Piazza Repubblica, including the fun carousel and the illuminations which danced across the facade of the Rinascente department store.

A morning visit to the annual Christmas Market, in the piazza in front of Santa Croce Church, was a must do. The market is German style but with an international personality in both the products and foods.  Booths from a variety of countries including Poland, Hungary, Germany, England, and Scotland offered everything from holiday décor and ornaments to warm scarves and mittens to classic foods.   And while the scent of all those foods was tempting, we saved our appetites for an after-market Sunday lunch at nearby Trattoria Cibrèo.

One of my favorites places to visit at this time of year is the Farmacia Santa Maria Novella.  This historic pharmacy, established some 800 years ago by Dominican Friars, once was known for its medicinal herbs and potions. It was once the place to get anti-plague remedies.  Today, no longer run by Friars, it still sells herbal products and potions along with wonderful lotions, soaps, perfumes, potpourri, liquors, and candles.  The setting is historic, full of old wooden cabinets, marble floors, and elegant decor.  It also houses the small chapel of San Nicolò with its beautiful frescoes. At this time of year, the Christmas decorations are gorgeous.  It is a wonderful place to shop for gifts. 

When the sun goes down, the show really begins.  First are the lighted street decorations which vary from one small neighborhood to the next.  The area around Palazzo Strozzi and Via Tornabuoni are especially bright and shiny. 

The beginning of the video projected on the Palazzo Vecchio

And then there was the number one thing that we came to see – the Florence Lights Up Festival, also known at F-Lights Up. 

This annual event involves a series of moving images projected onto some of Florence’s iconic structures.

There were too many to see in just a couple of nights, but the two we managed were fantastic.  The first was at the Palazzo Vecchio where the moving images were inspired by Florentine arts and craftmanship.  (video on two_parts_italy Instagram )

The second was a projection on the Ponte Vecchio, a series of images which turned the whole span of the bridge into art.  Standing along the river to watch the display was mesmerizing.  The images were simply amazing and uniquely Florentine!    The displays continue until January 6th, when the holiday season officially ends. ( video at two_parts_italy on Instagram )

Buon Natale and Buone Feste to all !

The Basilica of San Lorenzo at Christmas