Lucca

In many places, where to go for a morning run is not self-evident.  In others, it could not be more clear.  In New York City, it’s Central Park, on a gorgeous, fresh, August morning after a torrential downpour.  In Washington, D.C., it’s the Mall, climbing and then rounding Capitol Hill before sunrise, with the Washington Monument backlit and perfectly framed against the cold March sky.  In Barcelona, it’s Las Ramblas, on a warm, October Saturday morning, early enough to miss the (other) tourists, but not so early as to not see the vendors opening up their kiosks and meticulously arranging their wares.   In Lucca, 75 minutes to the west of Florence on the Regionale, it’s a footpath atop the 2.5 mile long, nearly 400 year old, twelve meter tall wall (above) surrounding the medieval part of the city of about 90,000 inhabitants.

Lucca?  Why not Florence (or Siena, Pisa, Via Reggio, etc.) if you have three days and need a base in Tuscany?  Good question.  I had visited Florence and Pisa.  Via Reggio, a quintessentially Italian seaside town on the Tyrrhenian, and Siena remained possibilities, but Lucca, relatively near Florence, and 30 minutes from Pisa and Via Reggio prevailed.

From Stazione di Lucca, it was not more than a ten minute walk, through Porta San Pietro, to Relais Inn Lucca (https://www.relaisinnlucca.it/en/), our home for the next three days.  One of the many ramps up to the footpath was not more than several hundred meters from this B&B, and on my second morning there, my run began.

A canopy of chestnut and plane trees covers much of the footpath.  On the inside you will see the old town, its Romanesque churches, including Santi Giovanni e Reparata, home to a nightly (and superb) Puccini concert (http://www.puccinimusic.com), as well as Torre Guinigi, Piazza san Michele and Piazza dell’Anfiteatro (below), formerly a Roman amphitheater and now a place to people watch while enjoying spaghetti alla carbonara (not the Olive Garden variety) e vino della casa (not the vinegar served stateside).

On the outside, you will find the newer part of Lucca and beyond that the hills and mountains of Tuscany, a faint scent of smoke from farms far away, the valley awakening, stretching its arms and legs before yet another autumn day.

It was the middle of October, overcast, mild, a weekday.  Unsurprisingly, the footpath was uncrowded, with pensioners enjoying a morning stroll, discussing politics or the other injustices of the day, and a few runners, mostly locals, I assumed, hitting the dirt path.  A tree trimming crew was working at a comfortable pace.  Pavilions were being dismantled and assembled, for the next festival or other event near the footpath.  Within hours, and certainly by the evening, the few gelateria along the footpath would be teeming with families or couples enjoying the slower pace.

I completed two loops (five miles), with the second as, if not more, satisfying as the first, being able to focus on the different aspects of the near and distant.  As memorable as the run had been, I could not help but imagine the same run on a clear winter morning, the sky a deeper blue, a sliver of a moon, the trees bare, with visibility for miles and miles.

I returned to the Relais, thankfully before the end of the complementary breakfast, usually consisting of local, rustic breads, salumi, formaggi, Tuscan melon, and a cappuccino (or two).  Reflecting on my run, and savoring the breakfast, I was more convinced than ever that Lucca was the right choice.

As intimated above, from Lucca there were day trips to Pisa (home to, that day, a 10k and ½ marathon) and Via Reggio, as well as a day trip to Montecatini Alto, a quaint medieval town accessible via funicular from … Montecatini.  Florence never happened, but there will be next time.