A Spring Weekend in Lucca

It seems as if we waited a long time for spring to arrive this year.  Cold and rainy weather lasted well into May.  But finally, on the last weekend in May, spring finally showed up.  And it is glorious!  

The temperatures are mild, the breezes gentle, and the skies are filled with cotton ball clouds with only the smallest hint of rain. The trees are green, the scent of Jasmine fills the air, and pretty flower boxes fill balconies. Is there a better place to spend spring than in Tuscany? 

 The final days of May also brought two very enjoyable festivals to Lucca. 

The first is the Lucca Medievale Festival.   The event took place on the mura storiche (historic walls) where a medieval encampment sprang up along one of the large green bulwarks that jut out from the walls.  

Throughout the camp craftsmen and women, all in costume, demonstrated medieval crafts.  There were woodturners, blacksmiths, and chainmail makers.

Weavers and clothmakers worked alongside pottery artisans and clog makers. Rough beeswax candles were on display as were some ancient (and quite scary) medical instruments.  A stone carver worked with small tools to create delicate designs.

Musicians played antique instruments; there was no shortage of medieval weapons. Throughout the weekend-long festival were exhibitions of historic dances, arts, crossbow competitions, and music. Lucca is in so many ways still a medieval town and the festival really brings that era to life. It’s an annual event - now is the time to make plans to visit Lucca next spring!

 The second event to enliven the city in late May was the French Market.  It is always exciting when this market comes to town. It is only fitting that the market fills Piazza Napoleone, Lucca’s largest piazza.  The large open piazza was created during the time when Napoleon’s sister, Elisa Bonaparte Baciocchi, was the Principessa of Lucca.  Her impact on Lucca is felt to this day. I think she would approve of hosting a French market in front of her palace!

 The market featured typical French products – soaps, perfumes, and table linens as well as French foods.   French breads were baked on site. French pastries and French cheeses filled the booths.  And the quiches! Quiche Lorraine, goat cheese and tomato, veggie and even salmon quiches warm from the oven were ready to take home for a tasty French themed lunch. 

Whenever the French market comes to Lucca, I line up to buy some bastoncini.  These breads – much thicker than a breadstick but thinner than a small baguette – are a bit of an addiction for me.  Crisp on the outside and soft on the inside, they are studded with olives, walnuts, pancetta, or cheese.   Paired with a market quiche and a salad they transport me right back to Provence. 

 The spring days in Lucca are meant to be enjoyed - a wonderful pause between the cold, rainy season and the advent of hot weather and busy summer activities. Welcome spring!

Almost Spring in Lucca 2023

Much as we may wish it, it is not quite spring here in Lucca.

 Europe has not yet “sprung forward” to daylight saving time (not until March 26th).  That means we don’t have the extended evening daylight hours that have already arrived in the United States, so evening still comes relatively early.  But the days are getting longer and sunset is now around 6:30 pm - perfect for evening walks along Lucca’s walls to watch the sky turn colors as the sun sets.  

6 pm in Lucca, March 2023

Mornings and evenings are still quite chilly, requiring jackets and scarves.  This is Italy after all, and we wouldn’t want to risk a colpo d’aria – that hit of cold air that would surely make us ill!  Best to keep that scarf on for now.

 But, despite some windy and chilly mornings, the last few days have brought us tantalizingly close to spring.   Not quite winter, not quite spring, the days are now spring-ish.  Is there is an Italian equivalent to the ending “ish”?  If so, I have not yet found it.  Quasi = almost, cerca = near, both are close but not quite the same as “ish”.    The word primaverile perhaps comes closest but is still not quite descriptive of this spring-ish season.

Early blooms in the Orto Botanico, Lucca’s Botanic Garden

 The early afternoon warm sun brings people out to sit on Lucca’s wall, turning faces to the sun.

It means it is time to shrug off the jacket and enjoy lunch outside on a piazza. 

 It means the beginning of “spritz season” when an afternoon drink changes from a wintery red wine to a sunny orange-colored aperol spritz.

It means trees and wildflowers starting to bloom in gardens and along the walls of Lucca.

It means fat asparagus and slender agretti showing up in the markets.  Inspiration for lighter dishes!

 It also means that the Magnolia tree planted by my neighbors has just erupted into flower, giving me a wonderful view from the window above my desk.  Grazie mille new neighbors!

I am looking forward to warmer weather, spring flowers, sun on my face, outdoor fun, longer days, April visitors, Easter, and hopefully tulips in bloom when I visit Amsterdam later this month.  

But right now, I am just happy to enjoy a spring-ish day in Lucca.

The view from my window. Thanks to my new neighbors for this lovely Magnolia tree!

Lucca in Bloom

April was quite cool and rainy this year; it seemed that spring would never arrive. Perhaps that long wait for spring has made May, with its lengthening days and beautiful weather, even more welcome. Right now the temperatures are perfect - just warm enough mornings, sunny warm afternoons, perfectly comfortable evenings. There are soft breezes and plenty of opportunities to stop and enjoy the feel of the sun on one’s face. Cool weather clothes have been packed away (finally!) and the midday sun gives a hint of the hot summer weather that is just around the corner. This is the in-between season, and it is one of the best times of year to be in Tuscany.

These roses can be found in the large park just behind the Church of San Francesco.

The magnolia blooms are long gone, the wisteria have mostly faded, and there are no poppies inside the historic center of the city (though they are a marvel out in the countryside). But that does not mean there is a shortage of color in town because in May Lucca erupts in roses and they are glorious.

This multi-colored rose garden is up on the walls that surround the historic center of Lucca.

I wish I could add a link that would share scent, because the roses fill the air with a soft, delicate perfume. This seems especially true for the banks of pink roses just outside Porta San Pietro, the main entrance into the city. Visitors to Lucca often enter this porta on their way from the train station into the city. And what a good first impression this makes!

Fragrant pink roses at Porta San Pietro. And why is there always a truck that “photo bombs” a good picture?

It’s impossible to walk past without stopping to appreciate the various shades of pink, the wonderful scent, the buzzing bees.

Not to be outdone by the pink roses just outside Porta San Pietro, these red ones are just inside the porta.

One of my favorite rose-filled places is the rose garden in the series of three small gardens in the chiostro (cloister) beside the Church of San Francesco. With an old well in the middle of the garden, and banks of roses fanning out in all directions, this is a delightful and well tended formal garden.

What a joy it is to walk through Lucca on a warm spring day and find these beautiful blooms.

Street side roses on Corso Garibaldi

Spring 2020

Spring is perhaps the most glorious time of year in Italy. The sun shines, plants bloom in sequence, beginning with the magnolias and then on to the wisteria. Later, the hydrangeas bud, blossoming as summer begins.

Magnolias in early bloom, just before the lockdown began, March 2020

Trees also bud and then begin to leaf. Wildflowers grow along stone walls throughout the countryside and Le Mura (Lucca’s historic walls) have their share of wildflowers as well. Flowers appear in window boxes and on terraces as people shop the traditional spring garden markets. Locals and visitors alike begin to revel in mild temperatures, enjoy walks along Le Mura, sip coffees at outdoor tables in pretty piazzas, make excursions to the countryside, and trips to those spring flower markets.

Buying flowers at the traditional Santa Zita Flower Market April 2019

At least, that is what spring is normally like here. This year, however, is anything but normal. I know it is spring because the calendar tells me the spring equinox has passed. And, in late March, Italy changed to daylight savings time. Easter has come and gone, though without the usual festivities. The days are longer and warmer. But, spending most of my time indoors, I find few visual clues to remind me that Mother Nature is shrugging off her winter sweaters for more colorful spring garb. It seems as though I am missing seeing spring unfold because of the quarantine restrictions. Judy, although she lives not far from me, is having a different experience both because of geography (she can see Lucca’s walls from her street) and because she has a dog and the rules here allow a bit more liberty for dog walking (see her post from last Monday for her perspective on spring). I am spending the lockdown in a relatively small (though lovely) apartment in the center of town (no views of the walls) and my outdoor walks until this week have been limited to the couple of streets around my apartment. For the most part I have only been able to imagine what is unfolding outside. Missing spring’s beauty hurts, but in light of the bigger tragedies unfolding around us it seems a small sacrifice.

A stone wall, somewhere in Tuscany, spring 2019

I do catch glimpses of spring as I walk to the market for groceries, across town to the cleaners, or around to my mailbox. And, I am lucky to have a view to a pretty courtyard and garden just across from my apartment.

Joanne feels lucky to see these pretty photinia bushes from her window.

More fortunate still are those who have a little garden space of their own, a huge bonus in a city like Lucca, especially during this quarantine. My friend Michael has such a garden and I am thankful that he shares photos of emerging bulbs and greening trees - it’s a sort of mental oasis! (Photos below by M. Boyd, used with permission).

So, to celebrate this unusual spring, I thought I would post some photos of springs past and present in and around Lucca. And - good news - as of May, because the lockdown has worked to decrease the spread of the virus, we are once again permitted to go for walks throughout Lucca. Today the walls will reopen. Joy! The wisteria may have faded, and we may all be wearing masks, but there is still a lot of spring to be enjoyed! -post by Joanne

Spring flowers in the Cinque Terre, spring 2018

Wildflowers along the fosso (canal) in Lucca, spring 2018