Italy Trip Day 2 - Lucca and onto Tuscany

Our second full-day was a travel day of sorts, in between Cinque Terre and our next stop in Tuscany. We filled the day by taking a side-trip along the way to a town called Lucca. Lucca is known for its old medieval town, which is surrounded by massive walls built to protect the town from its former rival cities of Florence and Pisa. The walls were so well built that they are still in perfect shape today, and they have built a bike and walking path along the top of the walls. We decided to stop here for lunch, and rent bikes ourselves to check out the town.
After Lucca, we continued our journey into the Tuscan hillside. We will be spending the next 5 nights in what is called an agriturismo. Essentially, this means we are staying on a real farm in Tuscany that has created a sort of bed and breakfast for guests. On the way to the agriturismo, Nicole asked me if I had seen any reviews of the place. I said no, that I had found the place on the internet and had no idea what it would be like. For some reason she seemed worried. After we arrived at the road to the agriturismo, and saw the make-shift, wooden sign marking directions to the farm, I think Nicole pretty much wanted to turn around and go back to Cinque Terre. Then, we drove over a dirt road for about 10 kilometers back into the hills, and I started getting a little nervous as well. It seemed like I might have just reserved a room for 5 nights at the Italian version of the movie Deliverance. Finally, we arrived at the farmhouse, and all of our fears were put to rest. The old farmhouse is nicely renovated, but still has all the character of a 19th century Tuscan villa. Our room is actually quite large, with a separate room for Mason, and has its own fireplace. If it wasn’t for that 2-year old we brought with us, this might be the most romantic place Nicole and I have ever stayed.
Tonight we ate dinner at the farmhouse, a meal they prepared with all ingredients or meat grown or raised on the farm. It was definitely the best meal we have had in Italy. OK, so things are looking better for the next five days. Mason even found a new friend, a little Italian boy named Francesco who will be here the next 3 days. Mason has picked up a few Italian words, and now tries to converse with Francesco by saying only “Grazie” and “Ciao.” After all, what else do you really need to say?