Italy - the Drive to Lucca

Five Hour Jaunt Along the Coast
Lucca is located in NW Tuscany, at the foot of the Appenine mountains.  We opted for the slower coastal route - about a five hour drive.  It was slightly longer after we got turned around and around in Rome and stood still in parking lot traffic.

I was happy to get out of the city and into the countryside.  We saw lines and lines of these typical Tuscan trees - they look like giant green umbrellas and throw a long shadow below.

The acres of sunflowers were surreal.  They stood at attention, heads bowed.

We stopped near Grosseto for lunch.  We turned into a small lane and parked underneath large pine trees that were teeming with screaming crickets.  We walked down a sandy path towards the light and found ourselves at the beach.

We ate some pasta with clams and squid ink risotto, drank a bit of wine and took some photos.

The tide was high, the surf slamming down angrily.  The island of Elba is just a few miles out to sea from here.  We could see if from our table.

I wished we had set ourselves up with an overnight here, the ocean looked very inviting.  However, we got back in the Lancia, sped up the coast through Pisa and onto Lucca.