On Monday we stayed close to home most of the day; a trip to the supermarket and a stop at the local Internet Point, housed in a fantastic bulding that was once the first casino in Europe were on the agenda for a few of us, while the others enjoyed the pool.
But our son’s phone was still not operational, and daughter needed to purchase a SIM card, so we decided after nap time to take a ride into Lucca, visit a TIM phone store, and share one of our favorite Italian towns with the kids.
We were lucky enough to see a TIM store along the street as we drove into town, and then to find parking for both of our cars within a few blocks of the shop! We found that although David had sent registration form and passport copies to Telestial and had called them to confirm all was in order, they had not completed the registration process, so within a few minutes that was taken care of, daughter got a card for her phone and we were good to go. I was a little disturbed to find, however, that though Telestial advertised that the SIM cards allowed free calling between TIM cell phones, that was NOT a feature of the SIM cards we have – not the first time I have found Telestial’s information to be less than accurate
With phones set up, and a quick stop at a Bancomat refreshing the wallets, we were off to see a little of Lucca. We were lucky enough to be there during the passegiata, so the streets were full of local citizens exchanging greetings and chatting. We window shopped, admired the architecture of many of the lovely buildings, visited the ampitheatro where la Principessa indulged In the international child’s pastime of chasing pigeons; listened to part of a vocal recital from outside one of the churches, then decided it was time to find a place to eat.
I had hoped we could follow the footsteps of many who have gone before us and eat at one of the great restaurants in town, but the realities of travel with a four year old made it clear that something less formal and quicker would be better for all concerned, so we said thank you to Jerry for having talked about K2 Pizzeria, sat at a table outside, and enjoyed a very tasty meal. 17 year old surprised us all by ordering and devouring a pizza del mare, replete with clams and mussels in the shell along with other wonderful looking seafood. He loved it. 13 year old passed on pizza (kids are full of surprises) and opted for fritto misti, loving the calamari and even eating some of the fried zucchini, despite an avowed hatred for the vegetable. La Principessa ordered for herself – “ pizza con quatri formaggi, per piacere” – she much prefers that to a simple Margherita pizza.
It began to get dark as we finished dinner, and we walked back along the walls as night fell.
