Falling in love with a quant town in Tuscany.

On January 5, 2026February 5, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn Vacation6 Comments

Monticatini Terme is a small town in Italy, between Florence and Lucca. It’s a great home base when visiting the Tuscany area. We spent a week here during our recent 2 week trip in Italy and then did day trips to the surrounding cities. This was our view from the hotel room and you could see the ferris wheel (pink) in the left.

We had some free time to spend wandering the town and soaking up the local food. On a late Sunday afternoon we got gelato and sat on a bench and watched everyone going about their day. It was nice to see more locals here than tourists.

Monticatini Alto (meaning high or tall) sits on top of a mountain at the edge of town. We could see the small town up there as we walked around near our hotel.

You can drive up to the mountain top but we took the funicular that was near our hotel. The funicular has been in service since 1898 and was a little jerky as we made our way up the mountain.

The view from the top was amazing. You could see most of Monticatini Terme from the top.

We walked all around the outside of the small village and on one side we saw a pool on the side of the mountain. Now that’s a pool with a view! The house was on the other side of the street and they had a tunnel under the street going from the house to the pool deck.

Shots of the village above. It was a little cool and windy up there on this morning.

We had lunch here. La Torre was run by some older Italian men who barely spoke English. We got salads and pasta and I had the best spaghetti cooked in red wine with pancetta and onions.

Riding back down the mountain later that afternoon.

Monticatini is know for it’s mineral rich thermal spas and is a designated Unesco World Heritage site. The Terme Tettuccio spa was built in 1779 and is still used today.

Looking down a quiet street.

The town has a lot of green space and there was a beautiful park near our hotel.

Sunset from our hotel on our last night in Tuscany. The next day we were heading back to Rome and Naples.

Linking to Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday) at Image-In-Ing.

A visit to Lucca and Pisa

On December 8, 2025January 3, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn Vacation3 Comments

It was nice to visit another quiet town while we were in Tuscany. We spent a morning in Lucca. We got there fairly early and the streets were quiet. We could walk down the street without bumping into people and look into the windows of the shops.

We stopped for a while in the Piazza della Cittadella. Giacomo Piccini, the opera composer (notable works include La Boheme and Madame Butterfly), was born in a home in the far right corner. There’s a statue of him on the other side of the piazza.

Our 8th church to see was the San Michele in Foro.

Built in the 8th century and renovated in 1070. St. Davino Armeno is buried under the cross from the 11th century.

The Torre Guinigi (the red tower in the back) was built in the 14th century and is famous for the trees that grow on top. Since we were having a big dinner that night Brett and I opted for a quick snack for lunch and spend the free time wandering the streets instead of sitting in a restaurant. We stopped in a local market to get some fruit and they had a case with home made pasta salads and those great arancini rice balls so we got that instead and ate on a bench while watching the locals go about their day.

We spent the afternoon in Pisa. We entered through the Lion’s Gate wall, built in the 12th century.

The Battistero di San Giovanni is the largest baptistery in Italy and was completed in 1363. There is a statue of St. John the Baptist in the center. There was a lot of scaffolding around the sides so I didn’t take a lot of pictures in here. Since it’s built on the same land as the Tower it also leans but only slightly.

Our 9th church to visit was the Cathedral of the Assumption of Mary, completed in 1092. We spent quite a bit of time in here looking at all of the details. It was jaw dropping. There were several alters besides the main one and each one was amazing. The ceiling in front of the main alter (last shot) had stairs up high that led to a secret door. St. Rainerius is buried here (in the glass coffin in the 2nd to last shot) in 1689. Also buried here is Pope Gregory VIII and Holy Emperor Henry VII in 1315.

An obligatory shot of the Leaning Tower.

Caper plants were growing wild all along the outer wall.

We passed by the village of Collodi, birthplace of the author of Pinocchio on the way to dinner.

We had a cooking class and dinner at a Tuscan winery and farm in Montecarlo, near Lucca. After learning to make ragu and pasta, we toured the vineyard and then had a wonderful long dinner with many courses and wine.

Linking to Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday) at Image-In-Ing.

Our first day in Tuscany

On November 17, 2025November 17, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn Vacation5 Comments

After our first 2 days in Rome we took the train to Montecatini Terme in Tuscany. On our short walk to the hotel we saw the above going down the street and I thought “How cute is this?” I knew I was going to like it here.

The view from our hotel window the next morning. This was going to be our home base for our week long tour of Tuscany. We were about a half hour west of Florence and close to many of the Tuscany sites.

On our first morning in Tuscany we headed out for Chianti and I was able to catch the above shots on our way to Greve. The countryside here is beautiful.

We started the morning with a walk around Greve which was quiet and calm after the crazy over-crowded Rome. Settled in the 11th century this small town supports the Chianti wine and olive oil area. There was a small Sunday morning market going on with locals walking around talking and visiting with each other.

We went into one of Italy’s oldest and most renowned butcher shops, the Macelleria Falorni. They also had a cheese room which smelled amazing.

The bells were ringing at the Propsitura di Santa Croce, the 4th church we went into during our stay in Italy.

Completed in 1835, it’s one of the more simple churches we went into. Mass was going to start soon so we just peeked in for a few minutes.

For lunch we headed to nearby Casa Museo Machiavelli. In the 15th century, this winery is where Niccolo Machiavelli, a famous diplomat and author, was living during his exile from Florence during the Medici period.

Before having a wine-tasting lunch we toured the winery.

The view from our table.

After a fabulous long Tuscan lunch and trying many wines (I only tasted the sparkling ones) they brought out the Limoncello. I’m not a big drinker anymore since I’ve had stomach issues over the years but what is that saying? “When In Rome?” I did have a few sips and it was so good. Everyone was dozing on that 30 minute bus ride back to the hotel late that afternoon.

The next day we went to Cinque Terre and I think that was my favorite but more on that later.