Due Ponti is an excellent fashion shop in La Villa. It has been operating for over 50 years, a sure sign they are doing things well.
Meet Anna (right) and Elena who are there with great advice and assistance with your purchases.
The shop carries a good range of quality fashion for women.
Look for Due Ponti in La Villa at Via Umberto I, 20/22/23…near the post office. Say hello to Anna and Elena.
We have had some very wild weather in Bagni di Lucca and the mountains around us. On Sunday night there was an enormous storm which dumped heavy rain on the area. Roads have been closed, and some are still closed. There has been damage to property and some villages remain cut off from main roads.
There was another smaller storm last night, but I haven’t heard of any further damage. The sun has appeared today. With a bit of luck it will stick around for a while.
Here are a few pictures of the muddy river in Ponte a Serraglio.
The river looked a bit more calm today. It is still high, but it is not rushing past so quickly.
The road to Lucca is cut past Borgo a Mozzano. Until yesterday it was cut from Chifenti as water had flooded the road to Ponte a Maddalena. It was open today so I went to the bridge to take a look at the river from there.
You can see how high the river is in the following photo. It is right at the top of the weir.
I walked to the top of the bridge. Two days ago there was a metre of water covering the road below and in the shops and houses beside the road.
If you go to YouTube and look for Serchio in Piena there are several videos of the damaging floods.
I hope the people who have suffered damage get back to normal soon.
Castelnuovo is the main town of the Garfagnana and an easy drive from Bagni di Lucca.
There is a wonderful old castle there…it was new once…I guess that is why the town is called Newcastle.
Not far from the castle in Via Nicola Fabrizi is a great shoe shop called Roberta.
The owner has tracked down some great shoes and has an excellent size range. She has shoes for all kinds of feet.
Here she is (in the blue shirt) with some happy customers.
We were there on a Sunday and the shop was packed. The owner did a great job handling the crowds scrambling to buy shoes.
We were all happy with our purchases.
I’m sure you won’t come away empty handed if you visit Roberta.
http://www.robertacalzature.com
info@robertacalzature.com
Our lovely friend Agostino took us for a drive to Cune, a gorgeous village above Borgo a Mozzano, just a few kilometres from Bagni di Lucca.
We drove through olive trees and grapevines and then through wonderful chestnut forests on our way past Cune and up the hill to the Chiesa and Romitorio di San Bartolomeo. It was a misty, rainy day, which made the drive even more beautiful.
We parked the car beside the road and walked a small distance to the collection of ancient buildings.
The stone buildings are well preserved and the area is well tended. The church was begun in the 12th century and completed in the 12th or 13th century with the addition of an apse.
This doorway is tiny.
There is an old oven in one of the buildings.
…and some interesting old stones.
Mushrooms are growing well near the buildings. The first one was enormous and seemed to be growing from the side of a building. The others were a normal size.
Further up the mountain are the remains of an old signal tower, called “The eye of Lucca”. It was an early warning system for the area. On a fine day we will investigate.
On the way home we had an excellent view of the Ponte Maddalena from above.
There is a never ending supply of fascinating things to discover in the Bagni di Lucca area.
Thank you Agostino for a great day.
Chestnuts have been an important part of the lives of the people of Italy for centuries. In times of famine they saved people from starvation. The trees provide wood for building, furniture and to burn for fuel.
There are approximately 850,000 hectares of chestnut forests in Italy, and around 39,500 hectares in the Lucca province alone.
So it is alarming that there is a disease attacking chestnut trees. Chestnut blight, or Endothia parasitica first appeared in 1938, but it the last few years the problem seems to be growing.
The disease appears a a lump at the base of the leaves.
The leaves die and the tree is then unable to produce chestnuts.
Let’s hope scientists can come up with a cure for this destructive disease. Apart from anything else, chestnut trees are beautiful. It is a delight to drive through chestnut forests in the mountains around Bagni di Lucca.
Kerry and Jim are from Western Australia. They decided to spend 6 months in Italy and chose Bagni di Lucca as their base. 3 months into their stay Kerry has generously written a post for Bella Bagni di Lucca to tell of their experiences in this gorgeous part of Italy.
Our 6 months in Bagni di Lucca…by Kerry.
We hit the jackpot when we chose the area of Bagni di Lucca to spend our six months “living the dream” retirement holiday. We arrived on 1st June and are staying until 30th November. I know it seems a long time but there is so much to do and see in the area that time is getting away from us.
Our apartment at Villa Isabella in Ponte a Serraglio is wonderful and the perfect place to base ourselves to not only relax and try to become a little bit “Italian” but also a great location to explore Tuscany from.
The village is built along either side of the Lima River, making it a very tranquil place to spend time in.
It is in easy walking distance to La Villa, the main village of Bagni di Lucca,making it accessible to additional shops, cafes, bars and restaurants, although we have some very good choices here in the village.
We chose to come to Ponte a Serraglio after some lengthy communications with Debra, who I must say has been very generous with her assistance, time and knowledge of the Italian system for those wanting to stay for more than 3 months. Getting our Permesso di Soggiorno would have been very difficult without Debra.
About 25 villages make up the region of Bagni di Lucca. We have visited many of them now and each seems to have its own delightful character.
We have done many day trips, including to the Garfagnana, Chianti and the coastal villages of Forte dei Marmi and Sestri Levante and there is still so much to do and see.
There are many beautfiful cities to visit when you are here, the closest being the historic walled city of Lucca. It is only 25 kilometres away and is such a lovely city to spend time in. At every turn there is something to discover…beautiful cathedrals, nightly concerts of Puccini’s music (Lucca is his birth place), great shops, very nice food and, of course, gelaterias at every corner.
Florence and Pisa are both must sees by travellers visiting the area and are just over an hour away.
If you have a “bucket list” of places to visit in Italy we would definitely recommend adding Bagni di Lucca to it.
Follow our travels at Jim and Kerry Travel Diaries.
Thank you Kerry for sharing your Bagni di Lucca with us. Perhaps at the end of your stay you will write another post for Bella Bagni di Lucca.
We spotted this lovely little group out for a walk beside the road near San Cassiano on a sunny day.
On one of our rare sunny spring days I visited Granaiola to walk through the village and enjoy the spectacular views of Ponte a Serraglio and several other villages that make up Bagni di Lucca from the high vantage point.
Granaiola is a short drive from Ponte a Serraglio. The car park is at the top of the village…come for a walk with me through the narrow streets.
There is a fine selection of green doors.
I found a couple of renovators’ delights for you.
There is always a cat or two.
I ran into the delightful Stefano who lives alone in Granaiola since his beloved wife died three years ago. The photo I took didn’t turn out well, but here is one I took a couple of years ago at a celebration in Bagni di Lucca when he was wearing his spectacular Bersaglieri hat.
His companion is the lovely Stellina. I’m sure Stellina is a very pampered cat.
…now the views from Granaiola. You can see Lugliano on a mountain top nearby.
…and Colle below.
There are wonderful views of Ponte a Serraglio on either side of the Lima River.
Pieve di Monti di Villa and Monti di Villa are higher up.
Riolo is the village on the lower right.
The blue sky was amazing!
The Lazzi bus going to Monti di Villa will take you to Granaiola. They leave La Villa a couple of times a day. If you are reasonably fit you can walk to Granaiola from Ponte a Serraglio. It is much easier coming down.
Click here to see the previous post on Granaiola.
There was a small earthquake in Bagni di Lucca earlier this year. Fortunately nobody was hurt, but there was some structural damage to some of the ancient buildings in the area.
The 16th century church of Madonna della Neve in Guzzano suffered considerable internal damage.
The chapel was completed in 1537. In that year the pre-existing chapel was restored and enlarged to its current size and shape. Inside the chapel are notable works of art, including a statue of the Virgin with Child attributed to Della Robbia.
Claudio Gemignani of Gombereto is heading up an effort to raise funds in Italy to help save the church. Ann Barsi is looking after efforts in the USA where $5,000 has already been raised.
Ann Barsi’s book, “Pieve di Controne – 2012” will be sold at the Gombereto Medieval Festival on 31st August and all the proceeds will be donated to the restoration.
I hope you can all make it to the festival and buy a book to help the church.
Click here to see more on the book.
email Sig. Barsi at obarsi@verizon.net for more information on the fundraising efforts.
I love butter…I probably shouldn’t…but I do. When Heather from Sapori-e-saperi told me of a place nearby that makes the most delicious butter, I had to visit.
Azienda Taufi is in Melo, just outside Cutigliano…on the road from Bagni di Lucca to Abetone. Their butter, ricotta, cheese and yoghurt (all excellent) are made from the milk of their gorgeous cows. They were all indoors on the day we visited, but in better weather they get to graze on the lush grass of the dairy farm.
Meet some of the girls…and the lone sheep…and the cat.
We also met Daniela in the little shop attached to the dairy.
She showed us through the production and store.
If you like quality dairy products it is worth the drive up the mountain to buy direct from the producers. It is possible to buy Azienda Taufi products from some local outlets…keep an eye out for them.
Bella Bagni di Lucca 