Lucca and Pisa in Harmony Forget all the old jokes about the ancient rivalry between Lucca and pisa. Not only is it the latest idea to promote both cities as a joint tourist destination, but this year, the annual concert for San Michele in Lucca will feature choirs from Lucca Read more…
The Adventures of Pinocchio comes to life in Italy’s Pinocchio Park, in the village of Collodi. Carlo Collodi, Pinocchio’s creator, took his pen name from Collodi, birthplace of his mother. The park tells Collodi’s version of the Pinocchio story through sculpture, mosaics and puppet shows. Pinocchio Park is a great place Read more…
Badia di Cantignano (Capannori City) The name refers to an instrument of Cantignano 783 “in Actum Cantinianu” concerning a donation made by a Lombard Lucca for a daughter. The small church dating back to centuries. VII-VIII, with adjoining Benedictine abbey dedicated to St. Saviour seems to have been built on Read more…
Elba Island… Napoleon Slept Here Sitting just to the west of the Italian mainland somewhat south of Pisa lies the island of Elba. It is common knowledge that Napoleon Bonaparte was exiled to Elba when nobody in France knew what else do with him but there is much more to this Read more…
Pienza, a small town near Siena, is a rare example of Renaissance town building. Defined, from time to time, the “ideal city”, the “utopian city”, it represents one of the best planned Renaissance towns, where a model of ideal living and governing was realized thus working out the idea of a Read more…