Our arrival to Italy was smooth. We were able to buy an Italian phone sim card at the airport as well as secure a hire car without an International Driving Permit (the Australian government website states otherwise). A great start I thought!
Filled with excitement and eager to start our Italian adventure we jumped in our newly rented Hyundai and sped off! We were barely out of the gate when I realised we forgot to ask for directions. I suddenly felt like a fish out of water; driving on the right side of the road (which of course is the right), with ten different road signs filling a two square metre space and hopelessly attempting to translate them, all the while feeling unsettled with these crazy Italian drivers whizzing passed us ignoring the speed limit. Our phone couldn't be activated without a Wifi connection and we had no GPS or map... A recipe for disaster!
As tempers heightened Shaun pulled the car over. By God's grace the street we were in had free Wifi! We were able to activate our SIM card, find the address of a B&B in Lucca and used Google Maps to find our destination. Phew!
But once in Lucca I misread Google Maps accidentally directing Shaun through the city centre (where the traffic access was restricted to local traffic only) - weaving through the narrow lanes dodging pedestrians and casual cyclists. Now I understand why the Italians made the Fiat Bambino!
We eventually made it to our B&B, Villa Agnese, and checked-in.
Our room smelt mouldy but it was at least a place to sleep and shower. Our room looked out over the back garden.
Having only eaten breakfast and being 4:30pm our stomaches were grumbling so we walked into the city centre to grab some dinner.
I had the asparagus ravioli with sage.
Shaun had a prosciutto and rocket pizza.
Delizioso!
We toured through the lane ways and back streets with a gelato in hand admiring the beautiful Italian made shoes, leather handbags, clothes, hand painted tiles and quaint grocery stores.
The lane way took a turn and opened up into a Piazza.
We even spotted a carousel!
Lucca is protected by walls built around the city centre. We walked along the ridge enjoying the view!
We walked back to the Villa at 8:30pm in higher spirits than earlier in the morning ready for a good night's sleep!
The next morning we had breakfast on the terrace. We did some quick research on Italian road signs and booked our stay in Siena for two nights before hitting tyres to pavement.
With a quick detour to buy a GPS we were off!
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