Mei’s Sweet Pastry Tarts. “Experiential” Tourism 2017

Posted on March 27, 2017 by admin

Tuscany, Lucca, March, the sun, and the desire for spring. Another new season begins. And here I am, in the streets of my “old” city. Lucca is older than me, and yet, it is as if it were 54 years old like me. I feel that it is part of my being, having walked and explored every single inch of it. You could say that when a new tourist-guiding season rolls round, I feel as if I were a 54-year-old tree that discovers its new leaves, leaves that look the same but are not the same of years past. If the old trees planted on the ramparts of the walls around the city could speak, they might say I was right. New stimulation and knowledge to impart to my new friends visiting Lucca. And this actually happens to almost...

The Art of Taste and Taste in Art – Part 4

Posted on March 20, 2017 by admin

Now let us talk about a place where sophisticated food and delicacies would be prepared and served to a select minority: the palazzos of the wealthy. There are two aspects to Palazzo Mansi. It is an emblematic example of the many patrician residences in Lucca and also a national museum that houses numerous paintings, an art gallery. Many of the paintings portray products that were cultivated in the territory in the past (and are still cultivated today) and the commercial activities and customs that went hand-in-hand with the products. The palazzo is located at Via Galli Tassi, 43. The exterior of the building with its light-coloured plaster walls and rather insignificant shuttered windows does not, in any way, exhibit the Baroque magnificence of the interior nor the precious handmade articles also found within. This is typical of the reserved...

The Art of Taste and Taste in Art – Part 3

Posted on March 8, 2017 by admin

Another interesting aspect, from a historical point of view, is to find the places in town where commercial activity in regard to food and foodstuffs took place over the centuries beginning in medieval times through to the 19th century and compare it to today. Starting off at the Cathedral, we can stroll along the network of narrow streets that connected to the main axes of the city road system dating back to Roman times, the Cardo, that ran north – south, and the Decumanus, that ran east – west. Beyond Piazza Antelminelli, we enter Via San Donnino and then turn onto the charming Via del Battistero. Today, Via del Battistero is a succession of antique shops where an astute collector can find pieces of undisputed quality from any time period, be it furniture or figurative art, historically tied to...