A change in pace.

So Sunday arrived, but for me, not until almost 9am - just what the doctor ordered, although I still think I'm catching up from lack of sleep on Friday night.

The sky was bright and the sun was due an appearance imminently, so we sat on the veranda drinking many cups of tea and coffee and having a leisurely breakfast. We had planned nothing but a lazy morning today.

Our guests were already up and out enjoying the fresh start to the day, which was great to see. Lorenzo came up to see us mid-morning to ask for a couple of things. First, we'd forgotten to put a bath mat in the shower room, which meant that despite their best efforts they were slowly turning the whole place into a wet room. Drat, I knew we'd have forgotten something!

Secondly, they had had an unexpected visitor during the evening, which meant them having to juggle sleeping arrangements as a small scorpion had appeared from behind the skirting board in the living room and terrorised their daughter. This is all thanks to the less than perfect doors on the place, with large gaps that are plenty big enough to let wildlife it. Still, it only took eight weeks to get a quote from a carpenter to come and replace the doors, so hopefully in the next six weeks he might actually arrive to measure up, and maybe eight weeks after that fit them.

Anyway, I went down to the apartment with a bath mat, a cordless drill and a scorpion-catching device (half a plastic bottle). Three screws later and there it was, safely captured and displayed to the curious guests. I despatched it down the driveway and left them in peace, hoping that a less eventful and more restful sleep is in store for them tonight.

11:30 was upon us before we knew it, and despite the fact that Kerys and Ben had only just surfaced, it was almost lunch time and we were out of bread. I jumped into the car and headed down the hill to Amanda's before she shut for the day. I had a plan to supplement the bread with a little something else and before I knew it I had purchased three breaded chicken breast, an enormous chunk of cheese, too large balls of buffalo mozzarella and two skewers of the largest prawns I've ever seen cooked in herbs and breadcrumbs.

We had a very enjoyable lunch with chilled white wine (for the adults) to accompany the prawns (which were also for the adults as Kerys and Ben wouldn't touch them with a barge pole).

After clearing up and getting ourselves ready, we headed out for an afternoon in Lucca. After the half-hour drive (which was about 25 minutes too long for the three piled into the back with no air con and only one window - the driver's - that opens), we parked up and headed up to the fortified wall that encircles the entire city. 

The car journey felt longer for some than for others.

The wall was quite busy with cyclists, and I enquired about renting a four-seater bike to join in the fun, but was told that nothing would be available for the next hour, so we opted to walk around the walls and come back later.

Walking the walls.

After a while we dropped into town from the wall and meandered around for an hour or so. 

Eventually, we found the small elliptical piazza that is the former site of a Roman amphitheatre. There was a market in the centre and plenty of bars and restaurants around the outside. 

Piazza amfiteatro.

Since we were all flagging a little in the heat, we decided to stop for a while and enjoy a drink seated under one of the umbrellas. One drink turned into two, and spirits were lifted, energy restored and after a browse around the market we headed off to find the famous tower with the trees growing on top: Torre Guinigi.

Torre Guinigi.

Mom and Helen chose to stay at ground level for different reasons (Helen and I have been up it before), and Kerys wasn't sure she was up to the steps, so Ben and I headed to the entrance but were soon joined by Kerys who didn't want to miss out despite her fear of stairs/heights.

260 open-tread metal steps later (if Ben's counting is to be believed), we arrived at the top and were afforded wonderful 360° views over the city.

Open tread steps.

Stunning views from the top.

Us from the top.

Us from the bottom.

By the time we'd got back to terra firma it was already 6.30pm and only 15 minutes before our parking ticket was due to expire, so we headed straight back to the car, leaving the bike rental for another visit.

We arrived home to a beautifully clear but cool evening, and got on with cooking dinner straight away, meaning that we were eating dinner before 9pm - a rare thing indeed since arriving here. It was nice to eat dinner outside for a change and have plenty of time after to relax with a glass of wine.

So it wasn't quite a day of rest, but it was certainly a very enjoyable one. Tomorrow brings a work day for poor Helen, while I need to entertain the family so a trip further up the valley may be in order, but we'll wait and see what the morning and its weather brings.