Tuscany 2

The ride from Lucca to Vinci, the birthplace of Leonardo (da Vinci), was a day of contrasts. We started the day on a bike path with a river on our right and a beautiful forest of birch trees on the left. After a short while, we turned to the right over the river bridge, continued on a kilometer or so and entered Lucca. I thought briefly about the 40+ € I'd spent the night before on taxis.
Lucca in the early morning is an immensely enjoyable city- none of the frenetic energy of the previous night. The citizens were doing the simple things - sweeping doorsteps, replenishing the stores and restaurants with push carts - that give order to life. We rode our bikes to the top of the wall and circled the city until we exited the walled city at the Elisa Gate.
The world outside of medieval Lucca is an ugly place. Our bike ride took us past an industrial area where we were temporarily lost. The directions, "Take a right at the paper plant and in 90 meters, go left" proved  impossible to follow. It is a rare form of bad luck to fly across the Atlantic Ocean and hop on a bike for an idyllic vacation in Tuscany and then find yourself stuck in front of a paper plant. Thankfully, it was Sunday and the smoke belching was modest and reverential.
At a small buckle in the road, we found the first open restaurant we had seen in many kilometers. We parked our bikes outside near a 40ish man sitting outside. He told us roll our bikes inside under a canopied terrace out of the sun. He turned out to be from California, a former Marine of 14 years, who had moved there to be closer to his grandparents. we had a delicious lunch, and he was still there when we exited. "Did you like it?", he asked. We assured him that It was a great choice. As we paid, he got up to leave. I can't help but believe that this was another case where a serviceman was quietly and thanklessly looking out for us. I was genuinely touched. Semper Fi.