No big deal :-)
We decided to stay the night in Lucca, as the drive home is fairly windy and we didn't know how bad the traffic would be, what time the concert would be done, how much beer we would drink, etc. As it turns out the best part of having a room in Lucca is it gave us the chance to have an afternoon siesta prior to the concert :-)
We drove up to Lucca before noon and explored the city. We wandered the streets, visited a couple of churches, stopped at a few wine bars and cafes, and climbed up the Giugli Tower for a view of the city.
I seem to be the one who always instigates these climbs, even though I'm the only one who is afraid of heights. This tower wasn't too bad, the guard rails were all about chest height (compared to the knee-height guard chains at Hua Shan). From this height all Italian cities look pretty much the same! (But I'll probably keep climbing these towers every chance I get.)
We scouted the piazza where Mark was scheduled to play. We had standing room tickets so decided to arrive early and claim a table at one of the cafes.
Here is us in line.
And here is the view of the stage, from our table.
Here were are waiting for the show to start. Not too bad!
Me watching Mark Knopfler in Lucca, Italy! Definitely one of the high points of this trip so far.
This was our view of the stage, once Mark started to play. Not too bad, although most of the time there was a huge crowd in front of us and it was difficult to see. However the sound was amazing!
And they had a big video display, of course. So we had a not bad view via the video.
There was a couple from Northern Ireland at the table next to us. We chatted them up and arranged a possible house exchange for next summer!
The next day (today) we strolled around the Lucca city wall (about 3 km). With a couple of stops for coffee and snacks, and a visit to the local market, it took us about 3 hours. Hey, we're on holiday and not on a schedule!
Tomorrow we're taking the train to Bologna, and the next day flying to Seville to spend 2 weeks in Southern Spain. We've got a place on the beach for one week, and then touring for a few days before we fly "home" to Italy.
I should mention here that most people speak English, however we've been trying out a bit of Italian when we get a bit of confidence. I've written up some postcards and we stopped by a post office in Lucca to mail them. We took a number (A140) and waited out turn. After awhile I got called to the counter and proudly announced "Ai bisogno di sette francobollo!" (I need seven stamps.)
"Oh no, you need a "P" number not an "A"."
What? I got the wrong number and now you're not going to sell me stamps? What kind of a bureaucracy are you running here? So I stormed back to the ticket machine and got a new number (P102) but by that time I no longer felt like buying stamps.
This is my adventure in Italian so far. Otherwise I've been using English pretty much full time :-S
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