Tonight's picture was taken in August of 2008, during Mattie's first week of chemotherapy at the Hospital. That was the week from hell. Trying to adjust to living in the Hospital, with a room the size of a closet, sharing bathrooms with other families, and the constant noise associated with an intensive care unit were all overwhelming. Pictured with Mattie is Linda, Mattie's buddy and child life specialist. Linda became a very crucial part of both of our lives. Linda seemed to understand Mattie right away and that week she helped to set up a painting area right in the hallway of the PICU. This got Mattie out of his room and actually when his good friend, Charlotte, came to visit him, they had a normal activity to do together. I will never forget Mattie and Charlotte painting in the hallway together. Things that you didn't think could happen in a Hospital, Linda found a way for Mattie to do them!
Fun Facts of the day: (1) Julius Caesar founded Florence in 59 BC as the
retirement location for his veteran soldiers. (2) The City of Florence is considered the "birthplace of the Italian Renaissance" and the "Athens of the Middle Ages." (3) In 1339, Florence became the first city in Europe to have paved streets. (4) Florence Nightingale was born in and named after the city of Florence.
I ended my tour in Nice yesterday with motion sickness. If
you have never had motion sickness, consider yourself very lucky. The ironic
part is it was the bus trip back from Nice to Monte Carlo that did me in.
Fortunately the beauty of Dramamine is that it really works, it makes you groggy,
but it is much better than the alternative.
The ship docked in Livorno today. This is the port town of
Florence. Peter captured a beautiful sunrise over the harbor! We got up at 6am
this morning for an early tour of Lucca, a town in Tuscany, just 30 miles from
Livorno and 46 miles west of Florence. We decided against a tour of Florence
today. Around 15 years ago, we all took a ten hour tour of Florence together. Tours
that are ten or more hours long are aggressive and since we have an 11 hour
tour of Rome tomorrow, two marathon tours back to back would have been
impossible. So we selected a half day tour today of Lucca instead.
As we drove by bus from Livorno (which isn’t very pretty at
all, it is a true industrial port!) to Lucca we passed glorious fields filled
with sunflowers. I have never seen sunflowers planted like this in the wild,
for miles and miles! It was an absolutely spectacular and truly Tuscan sight!
The vegetation of Tuscany is memorable! For as far as the
eye can see there are fields of greenery which include olive trees, grape
vines, mountains, and flowers!
Lucca is a very small town. There is the “interior” Lucca
and the “exterior” or outside Lucca. What delineates inside from outside?! The
answer is Roman walls. The original city is surrounded by Roman walls which
were built in 56AD. These walls still exist today and those who live inside the
walls deem themselves the TRUE Luccans! Those outside the walls are just that,
outsiders. Lucca is known for its banking, which is why you can see many bank
buildings around the small town. But what puts Lucca on the map is its manufacturing
of amazing olive oil and household paper products (like napkins, paper towels,
etc.).
The streets of Lucca are charming! There are NO sidewalks,
the streets are cobblestoned, and there is no trash on the streets. The main
way people get around in this ancient city is by bicycle. Honestly the bicycles
own the streets and as a pedestrian it is survival of the fittest. If you see a
bicycle coming at you, you better watch out. If you don’t move aside they will certainly
hit you!
The town is charming. Houses are colorful and most of the
architecture is a blend of medieval, renaissance, and also art nouveau. The
architecture reflects the great history of the town. Needless to say this was a
very walkable city filled with churches, stores, shops, and restaurants.
Giacomo Puccini was an Italian composer whose operas are
among the most frequently performed in the standard repertoire. Puccini has
been called the greatest composer of Italian opera after Verdi. Puccini was
born in Lucca in 1858, and was one of seven children. His family was considered
a musical dynasty, since seven generations of Puccini men directed the choir
and musical programs at the Cathedral of Saint Martin in Lucca. This statue
commemorates Lucca’s famous composer who was born at this very location!
This is a photo of the house where Puccini was born and
lived for many years. Now the house has been converted into a Puccini museum.
Lucca, though small, is filled with churches! One of the
churches we visited was San Michele in Foro (in foro means in forum – literally
this church was built over a roman forum). San Michele or St. Michael’s is a Roman
Catholic basilica. It was built over the ancient Roman forum (a forum is not
unlike the Roman Coliseum in which gladiator fighting took place). The church
is dedicated to the Archangel Michael, the patron saint of Lucca. You can see
the HUGE angel sitting at the top of this church. This angel can even move its
wings and it used to do so on special occasions! This church dates from the 12th
century and is considered a beautiful Romanesque church with one of the most
interesting facades in Italy. It has four colonnaded levels of gleaming white
marble inlaid with a menagerie of real and mythical animals.
Cathedral of St. Martin, also known as the Lucca Duomo was
constructed between the 11th and 15th centuries. Within
the church is a shrine that contains the most precious relic in Lucca, the
Volto Santo di Lucca, or Sacred Countenance. This cedar-wood crucifix and image
of Christ, according to the legend was carved by Nicodemus (who according to
the Gospel of John took the nails out of Jesus’ feet after he died on the cross
and prepared Jesus’ body for burial).
Our tour guide educated us regarding the exterior of St.
Martin. St. Martin was created from all local Tuscan materials, which included
white, green, and pink marble! She said that each color represented a virtue
such as faith, hope, and charity. Colors
and carvings on the outside of the church told a story to its church goers.
Why? Because when the church was originally created parishioners could not
read. So instead of reading words, they identified with the colorful virtues
and stories which were told through pictorial carvings.
In the top left carving or relief, you can see St. Martin
giving a sermon. Notice a flame above St. Martin’s head. This flame signifies
him being embodied with the teachings and passion of Christ. As for the carving
or relief on the top right, this depicts a woman who while being blessed by St.
Martin had a mythical spirit flying out of her head. Throughout the entire
exterior of the church there are countless moral and spiritual messages!
The Guinigi Tower is
the most important tower of Lucca, Tuscany. Its distinguishing characteristic
is the hanging garden on the roof of the tower. The live oaks on top of this structure
symbolize rebirth and also an emblem of prestige.
No town tour would be complete without a cat sighting from
my perspective. Lucca did not disappoint. Here is the “Lucca Puss” we saw
today. There were aspects of her coloring that reminded us of our dear Patches.
This wall is deceptive. It looks like any brick and stone
wall of a building. However, it is far from that! During the Roman period this
was the exterior wall of Lucca’s Roman Amphitheatre. This Amphitheatre was just
like the Coliseum that existed in Rome in which gladiators would fight animals
until their death. At one time the exterior of this wall was lined with marble
columns and boulders. However, with the dismantling of the Roman Empire the
marble materials were removed from these exterior walls and were used to
construct churches. So what we see today are the bare remaining walls (brick
and stone), without their marble adornments.
This is what the interior of the amphitheater space looks like
today. Of course back when it was used as an actual amphitheater it did not
look anything like this. There would have been no complete buildings, but
instead seating in the round to see the gladiator games. Yet Lucca has
preserved the shape of the space and instead of tearing down history, they
restored it in a way. The amphitheater has been converted into condos, shops,
and restaurants, to form a lively Piazza!
Lucca is filled with stores that sell handmade leather
products from Florence, handmade Italian leather shoes, olive oil and vinegar, gelato
stores everywhere, cafes, and of course pastry and deli shops. I couldn’t resist
taking this photo. It is hard to walk passed such a store selling wonderful
baked products and not buy them, so instead, I snapped a photo!
The days have been beautifully hot, sometimes in the 90s.
Only sun, not a drop of rain, not even a cloud in the sky. However, what is
most noteworthy is the sun doesn’t set until 10pm! I happen to love this! I am
not a morning person at all, but I do love the evening hours. This is usually
when I am most productive and have more energy. If I lived in the Mediterranean
there would be no telling what I could accomplish. As you walk the streets of
Lucca, or most likely any Mediterranean small town, you get the feeling that
outdoor living is important, people enjoy talking and connecting with each
other, and meeting and gathering in cafes is a tradition and daily occurrence.
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