Don’t forget Verdemura, the excellent garden show on the walls of Lucca. 31st March, 1st April and 2nd April. http://www.verdemura.it
Also in Lucca is the Sicilian Festival on 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th April.
At the casino in Ponte a Serraglio on 15th April.
This weekend FAI (a bit like the National Trust) organised walking tours of the Casino and Bernabo Spa in Ponte a Serraglio. The tours were extremely well attended on Saturday and Sunday, bringing lots of new people to the area.
Our tour began at the casino. It is the first purpose built casino in Europe. Carlo Lodovico di Borbone commissioned Giuseppe Pardini to build it in 1837.
We then walked up the hill to the Bernabo Spa. It has been beautifully restored and offers a range of treatments along with a fabulous deep marble bath and natural steam rooms.
There is a great view of Ponte a Serraglio from the terrace in front of the spa.
From there we walked down the hill and stopped briefly in front of what was the English Club, which is now the home of a friend.
We walked back to the casino for an inside tour.
The entrance and sitting room.
This was once a ballroom.
This is the orchestra stage.
The beautiful ceiling.
Detail of some of the decoration.
Delightful Virgilio gave us some lessons in the types of games that were once played in the various casinos that were operating in the area.
Look out for any future walking tours with the FAI.
The annual spring walk will take place on Sunday 2nd April. It is always a fun event.
It is great to see the wonderful casino building in Ponte a Serraglio being put to use. Here is what is coming next week.
Coming up in Bagni di Lucca.
There is a pretty walk beside the river in La Villa. You can enter beside Conad supermarket or below the walking bridge behind the Teatro Accademico.
A lovely way to take a quiet walk beside the river.
The weather is cool of down and autumn is finally here. There is no shortage of events coming up.
The festival in Fornoli is always fun.
One for young historians.
An exhibition will be held at the casino in Ponte a Serraglio.
You might need to go to the casino for more information on the chess event.
The living nativity is an event not to be missed.
I wasn’t able to attend the recent festival in Montefegatesi, but friend Matteo Offe was there and took some great photos of what looked like a fun day. Montefegatesi has a great community spirit and it is excellent to see people come together and enjoy themselves.
Thank you Matteo for sharing a great day with us.
There are some interesting things coming up in Bagni di Lucca over the next couple of weeks.
A concert at the Casino to raise money for Auser, which helps a lot of people in the community.
Plant an olive tree.
The final street market for the year.
Florence is an easy day trip from Bagni di Lucca. There are several ways to get there. The train is convenient. It can be boarded in Fornoli. The trip takes about 25 minutes to get to Lucca, where you change trains for Florence. The more direct train takes about 1 hour 20 minutes, add 25 minutes for the train that makes more stops along the way.
You could also drive to Lucca, park beside the station and take the train. This offers more flexibility for the return journey as the return connections are not great.
I used to recommend the bus from Lucca, but it no longer goes right into the centre. The bus stops beside a tram stop which is one stop from the centre, making it slightly less convenient.
Clever Mark Hickman has found another way. There is a car park just outside the centre with a tram connection into the city. Touch the photo below for details.
PARCHEGGIO VILLA COSTANZA
Thank you Mark, I look forward to trying it.
Bella Bagni di Lucca 