A leisurely walk from the apartment in Ponte a Serraglio is the village of La Villa, the commercial centre of Bagni di Lucca. The houses along the way were intriguing, I would love to have seen inside them.

They had great views of the green hills and the river flowed just outside their windows.

The delicate wildflowers were putting on a show.

The main street wasn’t too busy

and we found just what we were looking for.

The park had a lovely fountain.

The view downstream from the town bridge was serene.

I don’t know who this gentleman is but I think he has kind eyes.

We were a little early for lunch and were forced to endure a beer at the bar next door, complemented by bowls of olives and potato crisps, to pass the time.

Lunch at Ristorante Del Sonno was well worth the wait. I discovered my favourite pizza – ham, artichokes, olives & egg. I returned to La Villa a week later with the ‘wives’ while the men were busy building guitars. We lunched at Del Sonno,

overlooking the gorgeous facade of Teatro Accademico

and the cute dog waiting outside.

We then walked off our meal along the river path dedicated to Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning. They lived most of their lives in Florence and had a summer house in La Villa from 1853-1857.

No wonder they wrote such beautiful poetry with inspiration like this.