Bella Italia Stage 7

La Spezia to Lucca

Strava: 97.5 km, 394m, 4:43, 210 shifts

I wish I knew what controlled my sleeping. Last night I slept so soundly for over nine hours with great dreams and woke up rested and energized. Best sleep in weeks. We had a small breakfast of yogurt and fruit, then left at 8:30.

The gravel track took us out of La Spezia, up over a hill on some tiny, steep trails. Then flat, including a muddy section. We stopped at 40 km for breakfast, causing consternation in the café when we ordered all of several items and lots more. We shared everything and it was truly great 👍

We continued on, for a long time by the coast in an area of non-stop beach places. Road bikers were out training en masse on Saturday, passing us handily. Traffic was a little scary. At 70 km we rode a boardwalk to the beach and Daniel and Wytze had a swim while Andrew and I had cold drinks in the shade. We headed inland, more tiny farm roads and dirt trails. At one point there was barely a trail at all. We got to Lucca and the first bar we tried was closed. So was the second but we asked, “Just for drinks?”, sure that was ok. So we had a round of double malt beers which came with delicious olives, nuts and more. 50 meters on we found a pizzeria. Two pizzas and a bottle of white wine later, we were ready to find our apartment. But right next door was a small grocery store with tons of interesting stuff, so we stimulated their economy too, buying enough for dinner, well over €100.

Lucca is a great small city, surrounded by a wall. I unicycled here from Venice in 2018. Our apartment was inside the wall, just around a few corners, and our host (who called himself the Key Boy) showed us around. Showers, laundry then I had a deep solid nap. I got up to help Daniel make dinner: salad, fish, onion and tomato appetizers, mushroom risotto, and special Italian cookies and cheesecake for dessert. Plus red wine with dinner, dessert wine, and chocolate for after. It was great and lasted until almost 10 pm.