{"id":29048,"date":"2022-06-15T00:10:55","date_gmt":"2022-06-14T23:10:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abingdonblog.co.uk\/?p=29048"},"modified":"2022-06-15T00:10:55","modified_gmt":"2022-06-14T23:10:55","slug":"lucca-abingdons-twin-town","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.abingdonblog.co.uk\/?p=29048","title":{"rendered":"Lucca &#8211; Abingdon&#8217;s Twin Town"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.abingdonblog.co.uk\/imag22\/2022061412.jpg\" \/><br \/>\nWe planned a holiday in Tuscany in the spring of 2020. Covid closed down North Italy before anywhere in Europe. So this was a postponed trip.<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.abingdonblog.co.uk\/imag22\/2022061407.jpg\" \/><br \/>\nGiacomo Puccini was born in Lucca. His house forms part of the Lucca tourist trail.<br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/JfPCxNA1-PY\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><br \/>\nI filmed this man, who could play the cello and sing, singing &#8220;Nessun Dorma&#8221;, an aria from Puccini&#8217;s opera Turandot.<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.abingdonblog.co.uk\/imag22\/2022061421.jpg\" \/><br \/>\nIt was a lively place with a hubbub outside our window on the Via Roma until midnight.<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.abingdonblog.co.uk\/imag22\/2022061405.jpg\" \/><br \/>\nOn Sunday morning, along with many local people, we walked around the ramparts of the old Roman town of Lucca. Some walked, some jogged, others cycled, some singly, a lot on hired four-person pedaloes. There were some great views.<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.abingdonblog.co.uk\/imag22\/2022061410.jpg\" \/><br \/>\nBut then, at one point, about 150 Vespa-style motorcycles came by, led by Vespa Club Lucca. They were joined by Vespas from other towns, with a lot of waving and beeping of horns.<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.abingdonblog.co.uk\/imag22\/2022061416.jpg\" \/><br \/>\nWe also visited Lucca Cathedral, where some famous artworks can be viewed. There were also visitors on bikes.<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.abingdonblog.co.uk\/imag22\/2022061415.jpg\" \/><br \/>\nThere are a lot of churches in Lucca. Abingdon used to have a lot of pubs. Lucca still has a lot of church buildings. This one, near the Catherdral, had an exhibition with trees and roots turned into art.<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.abingdonblog.co.uk\/imag22\/2022061403.jpg\" \/><br \/>\nThere is an oval-shaped area based on a Roman Amphitheatre in Lucca. People were eating and drinking all the way around. Lucca does seem to be a fascinating historical and cultural place. We only had a day and a half in Lucca. In hindsight, more time in Lucca and less in Florence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We planned a holiday in Tuscany in the spring of 2020. Covid closed down North Italy before anywhere in Europe. So this was a postponed trip. Giacomo Puccini was born in Lucca. His house forms part of the Lucca tourist trail. I filmed this man, who could play the cello and sing, singing &#8220;Nessun Dorma&#8221;, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[165],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29048","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-twinning"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.abingdonblog.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29048","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.abingdonblog.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.abingdonblog.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.abingdonblog.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.abingdonblog.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=29048"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.abingdonblog.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29048\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.abingdonblog.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=29048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.abingdonblog.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=29048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.abingdonblog.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=29048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}