This is my little Italian secret. I loved everything about Lucca. From my house (Da Elisa) to the bar down the street, Antica Drogheria (one of the very few restaurants that were open during siesta) and everything else in between were just surreal. Lucca is one of those cities where it makes you feel like a local. We stayed at Da Elisa for 5 days and enjoyed every minute of it. I loved the fact that the laundromat around the corner from the estero was also a cybercafe and that the Mura Grande was not just for bicycling but also for packing picnics, walking etc. The bar down the street from Da Elisa was simple yet inviting. The bar owner was wonderful and engaging. The shopping in Lucca may not be comparable to Rome but it has these little local shops that sell local items. Lucca is also not as tourist infested as the rest of the Italy so it was lovely to walk about and not worry about throngs of fanny-packed tour mongers . For anyone who wishes to visit Lucca, please do. Make sure you stay inside the wall, (check out Da Elisa – the owner is wonderful), eat at Antica Drogheria (or the Trattoria di San Antonio), bike around Mura Grande and buy some local soaps from an apothecary owned by an Italian woman who used to live in San Diego (I forgot her name but it’s one of its kind in Lucca).
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Last Fall, we spent two weeks in Lucca (apt. across from Tower Guinigi) and loved it! Also enjoyed several meals at Antica Drogheria. Next month we are headed to MAD & BCN and am reading your comments about Spain. Thanks!