LAWRENCE NEUMEISTER: O MIO BABBINO CARO

I arrived early at the Santa Maria Novella train station and easily passed through the ticket line, so I hopped an earlier train for the 80-minute ride to Lucca. This was a comfortable newer-train with few passengers at 8:30 AM. The tourists were probably still lingering over coffee. The day was bright with occasional clouds. With the hills to our right we passed by household gardens, bucolic streams, crumbling old stone farmhouses, and the small towns of Prato, Pistoia, Montecatini Terme, and Pescia. Most of the areas leading up to the stations are covered with graffiti, somewhat different from that of Florence and more closely resembling what one would see in New York City. Most of the stations (including Lucca) are old and unremarkable paint-peeling-buildings. It is just a short walk from the station to the elaborate walled fortifications of Lucca.

Puccini was born here 150 years ago and Fodor’s says “Caesar, Pompey and Crassus agreed to rule Rome as a triumvirate in 56 BC”. So it has a lot of history. Well, history aside, it is a lovely town. All the ramparts around the city are covered with a tree-lined car-less avenue, walkways and benches. The dozen spade-shaped protrusions or “baluardo” (bastions) have clusters of trees; some have impressive statues. It is a pleasant walk. I did more than half of it but my time was focused on the inner city.

I wandered and shot pictures for a while, then settled down to a light lunch in the Piazza Anfiteatro. Then back to more wandering, during which I saw the Torre Guinigi. This is the tower (of a medieval Palazzo) that has a grove of ilex trees growing on the top. I walked up and got a great view… and a nice breeze. From there I took a picture of the Torre delle Ore. This clock tower was built in the 12th century and has a weight driven clock that was installed soon after. It still has a weight driven clock (although I am not sure, from the looks of it, that it is the same one). You can climb the tower to see the workings. I climbed the steps. Every narrow rickety one. It was worth it. Again, a nice view of the countryside and the clock mechanism. The guy who takes tickets at the clock tower was dealing with the police when I arrived. Seems some kids threw rocks off the tower a few minutes earlier. He grumbled “Kids!” I said “Yea, and some adults” to which he looked me in the eye and said, “Don’t you throw any rocks.” I said "no" then took the walk to the top. When I returned I started to talk with him about the tower. Seems that the clock weights have to be pulled each night. I asked if that job was his responsibility. He was adamant in saying “No” going on to inform me that it must be done every night and you don’t get any days off. It seemed strange that no one else could do the job, occasionally. But that is what he said.

As I was about to leave two American women came to climb the stairs. He asked them to come back in a half-hour as he had to lock up to use the bathroom. He went on to say that he “full up to here” using his hand to indicate his forehead. Seems he has no one to relieve him either (no pun intended).

I continued to wander and take pictures. I stuck my head into some of the 99 churches in the city but by now I know what churches look like. My interest was in artsy photos and just walking. Well, also a bit of time was spent snacking on gelato. It was a bargain here at $1.50 euro.

It started to cloud up, so I headed back to the station and caught the train. This train seemed to be brand new with the same blue theme as the older ones. The route was just the reverse of the morning ride but I did notice, for the first time, a number of large farms dedicated to growing trees, shrubs and flowering plants. There were a couple of large fields of bluish-pink hydrangeas. The mass of billowy color was beautiful. I had taken the other side of the train for the return and saw many more crumbling old stone homes that cried out for repair. Oh, would I love to do that. Anyway it started to rain hard so I half-dozed the rest of the way back.

The market, home, dinner and then I took out the garbage. When I dropped the bag of trash outside the building, I heard an opera aria echoing through the Signoria. I investigated and it was the same women I saw a couple of weeks earlier at the Orsanmichele. I quickly ran upstairs and got my camera to video tape her singing. She sang my favorite aria “O mio babbino caro” from Gianni Schicchi by Giacomo Puccini. How appropriate I mused, since I just visited the city of his birth. Between songs I went up to tell her I had been looking for her, for two weeks, and thanked her for singing my favorite aria. Although I didn’t tell her I thought the opera itself sucks. Sorry Giacomo!

Were you aware that you can click on any picture for an enlargement?

The entrance to Lucca