Visits.

We've been in Lucca a couple of more times. It's about a 20-minute trip if we use the autostrada, which is, of course, a toll road (about 2 euros each way), but it saves us percolating up into the hills on narrow winding roads.

Lucca is a bit colder than down here by the ocean, so we need to layer up a bit when we go in. I've bought a padded vest to wear under my heavy jacket for added comfort, and Nancy was found some warmer gloves. And it's been lightly raining off and on for the past few days.

We've paid a short visit to Anna, one of my mother's first cousins who lives inside the city walls. She's been feeling poorly and rarely leaves her flat these days; fortunately she has a very devoted husband who cares for her.

Yesterday we had pranzo with cousin Luanna's family (she is another first cousin of my mother's) and got caught up with them. Between her and her daughter Isabella, much of the conversation goes to cooking, where Nancy's specialized vocabulary comes into play. Granddaughter Claudia (13), after she warms to the occasion, is always interested in showing me her latest efforts at computer illustration.

Later in the evening we met Gabriella and Pietro for a walk in Lucca, along Via Fillungo among the crowds of holiday shoppers. Although Lucca is not a huge town, it has many prosperous citizens, and the shopping district includes many fancy shops with the same designer names that will be found in Firenze or Milano. It is common to see tall, striking young women (and men) done up in high fashion.