With our Family in Lucca



Tina with Zia Elsa and Zio Piero and Zio Sergio



We arrived in Lucca three days ago to the warm hugs and kisses and the accompanying emotional tears from uncles, aunts and cousins. It has been almost thirty years since Tina was here in ‘82/’83, and so the reunion was extremely emotional and extraordinary, unforgettable. When I saw two of the uncles, and my cousin Umberto art the train station, I knew instantly who they were. 

 

 

 

 

Tina and Zio Elio

The family resemblance and bond was immediately felt even before we spoke. Of course, there were tears! I always said that I felt ‘home’ in Italy, and still do. My heritage and roots extend deeper than where I was born.

 

 

Paul was unexpectedly overwhelmed and very emotional too, as he discovered he has a whole new family who have lovingly accepted him as their own. He was in a bit of a shock when the uncles wanted to give him a whiskery kiss, but soon warmed to the idea and responded equally in kind.

Paolo and Zio Piero who thinks his
hat SHOULD win the competition.

Paolo and Zio Sergio

My dad, Franco, has three brothers living in Lucca, of which he is the eldest. Dad left this beautiful country at the age of eighteen to make his fortune in Australia. He later met mum and the rest is history.  The likeness and similarities between the brothers is uncanny, they have similar smiley eyes, share infectious chuckling, and yet have uniqueness about them. They are all so warm and huggable! The aunties just want to feed us, they are all so lovely and incredibly accommodating to us. Two of the brothers live next door to each other (one is still in the old family home) and the third brother  is living at their holiday home high in the hills above Lucca.

.....we live in Lucca.....
.....we live on the second floor...
we live upstairs from you...
....guess I think you've seen us before...

We have the whole of the top floor of Piero and Elsa’s home, with our own bedroom, sitting room and private bathroom. It is so comfortable, we would say it is like a 7 star ****** apartment. Zia laughs when we tell her this!




Romano Anfiteatro - walls of the "old" city
follow the  shape of the old roman theatre

 





Friday we took the bus to the city of Lucca, which lies within its medieval walls. It is an amazing city, many narrow side-streets, which still follow the pattern of the former Roman colony in 180BC. Lucca is the birthplace of Giacomo Puccini. Our visit was brief, but spectacular. We will re-visit this city in more detail next week.

Yesterday we travelled to Pisa and visited the Duomo, Bapistry, and the legendary Leaning Tower in the Campo Dei Miricoli. The construction of the Leaning Tower of Pisa began in 1173 on sandy-silt subsoil. The tower commenced tilting before the third storey was completed in 1274. The structure was completed in 1350. The top of the tower currently leans about 5 metres from the vertical!

It is an awesome sight to see in real life, as no photos prepare you for its uncanny tilting. Paul says it looks soooooo wrong!

We apologise that our blogs maybe be brief at the moment as we are cherishing being with family and activities take priority ‘till late in the evening.

Today we are staying at the sea-side resort of Viareggio with our Cousin Elisabetta (she’s gorgeous and looking for a boyfriend!) before heading off to La Spezia as our base for exploring Cinque Terre. No doubt, we will have more time to blog later.

Thankyou again for your comments, as always, they are greatly appreciated. Yr 2/3's - ciao bambini! come state, spero che state molto bene! (oh no!!!!!! I'm starting to talk Italian all the time now!!!). It was fantastic to get your comments, I am so glad NAPLAN is over,

Happy Birthday to Ava, hope you had a great day.

Bradley, hope the baptism went well, I said a little prayer for Emily and Jack today.

Thanks Bruno for all your blog info....!!! Alex for your dissertation....cheers, Paul 

Blog soon!!! xxx T&P