Lucca and Pisa :

From calm to storm.

About me

About me

Hi Beautiful People ! Loïc here, addicted to travel and experiencing anything our incredible world has to offer ...

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Palazzo Rocchi

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Fortunately for us Lucca is a lot less visited than Firenze, Pisa or Sienna.

Going through the narrow paved streets feel like a regular day among local instead of a horde of tourist. Most of the city center is car-free which means the only noise pollution you’ll get will come from the market sellers, bicycles or maybe the Torre delle Ore bells.

The top of the old city defensive wall is turned into a ring park, a great way to get an overview of the city without getting lost within its maze of streets.

Crazy how things can change. This place for example in Lucca used to be the former Roman Arena. The elliptic shape of the piazza corresponds to a great extent to the area of the ancient arena. Only some part of the ancient monument can be seen today incorporated into the modern wall.

The Piazza Piazza dell’anfiteatro nowadays hosts internationally renowned musician concert.

You should get lost, walk in the smallest street and get lost again. Only this way you will discover Lucca as it should be, finding hidden relics of the past on your way.
Located in the “ultra-hyper-center” of Lucca is a hidden gem, a place where you can get this old world feeling.

It is a pain in the neck to reach Piazza San Michele when driving as most of Lucca center is only a pedestrian zone with so many one-way streets, but I promise you’ll be rewarded.

Palazzo Rocchi is owned and managed by the same family since the nineteenth century. Located on the third floor of a Palace just behind Lucca’s Duomo which stands where the Roman Forum was. It was a great news to be able to use a lift to carry our luggage.

With only 2 room and three suites (60m2) be sure to reserve early enough.

When you enter the Tuscan Palazzo you will automatically feel at home after getting the master key. Forget impersonal hotels, it is more like a super luxury Airbnb. If the room is not big enough for you (it is big enough) the former dance hall adjacent to your room will be perfect to relax with its empire style decoration. There is even a tray of aperitif drinks laid out in the lounge at no charge.

In the morning a typical Italian breakfast will be served in your Living / Dining room it is usually like a continental elaborate one.

Roberto, your host will go out of his way to make our stay enjoyable and have only one concern: For you to enjoy your visit to Lucca.

We only wished that we could have stayed longer.

The Aqueduct of Nottolini located only 5 km from Lucca is often mistaken for a Roman aqueduct but the construction started in 1823.

Rock channel were used to convey spring-water to the San Concordio water tank. From where it will then reach the city center through metal Pipe in the Aqueduct. It is not in use anymore since the highway was constructed – stopping the water flow.

But it is possible to come to the giant structure and still fill water bottle as many locals do. There is even a line to get that particular free water.

Pisa, on the other hand, must definitely be visited early in the morning. We had to flee to France for a day from Galileo airport and didn’t have many options to spend few hours in the city and see the most of it.

You must purchase a ticket to visit 3 of the 4 monuments. If you only want to visit the cathedral you can collect the fixed time free ticket. Never any miracles happened here but in 1910 Gabriele D’Annunzio declared that the monument were miracles of architecture and it gave its name to the Piazza. Everybody since is trying to find the best spot to make the mandatory Leaning Tower of Pisa pic, whether you try to hold it or push it away.

Even so, the Cathedral was the first one constructed, the most famous monument will always be the tower. The Campanile (Bell Tower) started to lean when the construction wasn’t even finished. It is an engineering feat when you consider it to be the highest bell tower at the time (57m) even if it took 226 years (from 1173 to 1399) to finish its construction.

The tower started leaning due to the ground being too soft and constant restoration have to be made since. On the surface and to restore the tower to a vertical orientation. Pisa got its name in 600 BC from a Greek word meaning “marshy land”… With all the biggest brain in the area working on the Campanile construction, we might be tempted to believe this should have set off alarm bells.

The Burano leaning tower is also a good example of it.

To be sure that the noble Pisans could rest in holy ground 5 ships of holy earth from Golgotha (where Jesus Christ was supposedly crucified) were brought back during the 2nd Crusade to the Camposanto (cemetery).

At the same place, the cathedral was erected a century later.

In a nutshell:
Hotel :

Palazzo Rocchi Hotel B&B :

Address : Piazza San Michele, 30, 55100 Lucca LU, Italia

Telephone : +39 0583 467479

Website : www.palazzorocchi.it

As we drove a motorbike parking wasn’t an issue but with a car you should expect to pay around 10€ per day.

Piazza dei Miracoli – Pisa :

Website : www.opapisa.it

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