DAY 95 SATURDAY JUNE 27 - BAGNI DI LUCCA

Thanks again to Janet and Joe Lenzo we were able to visit another village not too far from our resort.  It was a place where a lot of English people used to come to "take the waters" and bathe, so there is an English Church and an English Cemetery here still.  The first thing we found was a small market in the town square.  One stall had a large variety of local fruit and vegetables for sale, another one had every possible kitchen utensil you could think of, and a third had lovely clothes at very reasonable prices with "made in Italy" tags.  Lyn was sorely tempted, but decided to get a cup of coffee while she decided whether to spend.  We bought a cappuccino, a glass of milk, a fruit flan and a pastry.  The bill was 3.90 Euros ($5.50).  No wonder people sit at tables in a little cafe for ages. Back at the market we bought a bag of hot chips and a quarter of a rabbit, which Malcolm ate greedily ($9 total).

In the park there was a miniature free book exchange for English readers.

And a fountain with bathing lady symbolic of the town's history.

There was also a large tower which we cannot explain because the sign was only in Italian.

We stopped at Barga on the way back for diesel for the Fiat 500G (a compact car much bigger than the earlier namesake).

We went to the resident Pizza Restaurant for dinner and took a photo of Barga from our balcony as the sun set.

We are in the Serchio Valley, surrounded by the Appenine Mountains.

There was a wedding reception in the resort tonight and we watched the fireworks display from our balcony.  The noise echoed back from the mountains.  The moon overhead was at half phase and Jupiter was approaching Venus.