Day 16-18: Pietrasanta

NOTE: In the interests of catching up with our trip before we get back, I am posting one report for our three days in Pietrasanta.

The hotel is wonderful…almost perfect.

However, the roomy marble shower in the bathroom (there is also a large tub) has no place to put soap or shampoo except on a narrow ledge at the bottom–a curious omission. (Every trip we seem to comment on the deficiencies of Italian bathroom design.) Other than that, it is hard to find anything lacking. The rooms is nicely decorated, the bed is comfortable as is the furniture. The breakfasts are terrific and the service is outstanding. The staff is friendly and helpful and the location is right in the middle of everything.

The town is a pleasure to walk around–the modern sculptures and classy modern art galleries are a nice accent to the traditional attractions in most Italian towns. Each day when we come back from our excursions (see below), I usually take a walk around the town and in our time in Pietrasanta, I think I covered almost every street in the center. One of the most famous artists represented is Fernando Botero, a Columbian who lives in Pietrasanta part-time. His very distinctive style–very round human figures–is represented right at the entrance to town

and there are many other modern pieces scattered around the town.

One day I climbed up to the fortress above the town (of course, it was closed for restoration) but I did get a good view of the town.

Another day, we did a quick walk through of some of Pietrasanta's attractions; the Duomo

the Baptistery

the art museum, which is located in a deconsecrated church on the main piazza

did some window shopping (there are some very elegant shops in town)

and checked out the monuments and memorials celebrating Pietrasanta's past.

Each evening, before dinner, we had a prosecco at the same bar (the one that was in the sun) and watched the endless stream of people. By the third day we were recognized by the waitress so we felt like "regulars".

Each day we went out for an out of town excursion. On May 1, we drove up into the hills to Sant'Anna di Stazzema. We had tried to go in the fall but the combination of the winding, narrow road and foggy rainy weather turned us around. The drive today was much easier….the road was the same but the weather was very cooperative–bright sunshine and pleasant temperatures.

Sant'Anna di Stazzema is a small mountain village where the Germans massacred almost 600 civilians in 1944 (mostly women and children, as well as the town priest) as a reprisal for partisan activity in the area. There is now a hilltop memorial to the victims and a very well executed museum with details of the massacre and exhibits about the resistance movement in the area. The church where the killings took place is also open for visitors. It is a beautiful location, the museum is compelling and the memorial is very moving.

The web site of the village has a lot more information about the events.

http://www.santannadistazzema.org/sezioni/THE%20MEMORY/

We had talked to the manager of the hotel that morning before leaving and she was very emotional as she told us that her mother's family was from Sant'Anna and many of her relatives were among the victims. We recognized her name in the lists and narratives in the museum.

Spike Lee's film "The Miracle of Sant'Anna" is set in the area and deals with the experiences of the black army unit that fought against the Germans in the mountains. We learned that the Italians are not too happy about the film because they think that the contributions of the Italian resistance is minimized. We hadn't liked it either - a disappointing effort by a filmmaker we usually like very much.

We try to drive down on a different road than we came up on, only to find that what we thought was a road was really only a bicycle path. When we come to the end of the road, we have to turn around and go back down the same way. In any case, the scenery is very beautiful.

We have lunch on the beach in Viareggio, one of the large Italian beach resorts on this coast. The resort is crowded on this holiday and the "boardwalk" is full of strollers. We have a sandwich sitting in a one of the beach club snack bars, enjoying the sun and the people watching.

On May 2, we drive to Lucca on the main non-toll road to get a different view of the drive. When we get to Lucca, it is difficult to find a parking space but we drive into the city and park–semi-legally (with ten other cars)–on the sidewalk next to a church near Piazza San Francesco. Lucca is a favorite city of ours and we frequently stop for a short visit while in the area. We like to visit our friend Paolo at the Piccolo Puccini Hotel, buy some chocolate at the Caniparoli shop and have our favorite lunch–fried chicken and vegetables–at La Vecchia Trattoria Buralli. We accomplish all three goals and also have a nice walk across town, passing many of our old haunts from when we studied Italian here for two weeks a few years ago. We also have a nice discussion with the Italian sitting next to us in the restaurant–an engineer from Carrara on a day trip with his family. He starts talking to us by complimenting us on our command of Italian, which may not be accurate but is very flattering.

On May 3, after doing our laundry at the laundromat in town, we drive to the beach town of Marina di Pietrasanta, about five miles away. It is a beautiful day again and the town is lively. There is a very big spring market that stretches for blocks with food, jewelry, clothing, plants, flowers and soaps among the things being sold. We stroll through the market and then have a light lunch at a rooftop restaurant overlooking the beach. We walk out on the pier that stretches across the beach out into the water; the beach looks very clean and well maintained.

Before heading back to Pietrasanta, we walk through another food section of the market (which makes us wish we had come here for lunch) and have some excellent gelato at Peccati di Gola (translates as "sins of gluttony")

One more detour before returning….a drive into the hills above Pietrasanta on a road on the way to Capezzano and Capriglia that has the tightest, most continuous hairpin turns that I can remember ever driving. But we do get some nice views into the mountains before coming back down to town.

We have two dinners at da Beppino in Valdicastello, the next town over. Our Friday night dinner is the best of the trip–we have the house antipasto consisting of a number of plates of delicious food–meatballs, fried vegetables, ham, panzanella (bread and tomato salad), white beans and more–followed by wonderful tagliatelle with a rich porcini mushroom sauce for me and tortelli with spinach for Diana. Diana has a refreshing dish of strawberries with vanilla gelato for dessert. The house wine is outstanding and a great value and the waiter is professional and friendly. We enjoyed our meal so much that we decide to come back on Sunday and it was almost as successful–Diana's steak is especially good.

Saturday's dinner was not as successful. We had chosen a Slow Food recommendation–La Giudea–which is just around the corner from the hotel. Unfortunately the staff was not up to the challenge of the very full restaurant….service was slow and confused and the food–while okay–didn't make up for it.

All in all, we really enjoyed our time in Pietrasanta and would happy to return there in the future–especially if we could stay at the Albergo Pietrasanta.