Every third Sunday of the month there is the Lucca antiques fair. This fair threads its way all around the streets and squares in and around the Doumo. It is a fantastic event with many stalls of goods from basic, but interesting, bric-a-brac to some beautifully expensive furniture, carpets and tapestries. I fell in love with a lovely small liberty chandelier that I wanted to but for our hall but it was too expensive for us at the moment so I hope it will still be for sale in two or three months time (or two or three years time!)
The stall holders are usually there all day in fine weather and most bring their collapsable tables and chairs with a camping stove etc and set up fine four course lunches for themselves at the stall side including with wine in glasses. Very stylish.
Our village of Vellano is the comune of Pescia, which is in the region of Pistioa, the main administrative city. However the regional boundaries of Lucca are but a few miles to the west whilst Pistoia is just over the hill to the east. There are many in Pescia, especially those of us in the tourist industry, that want us to be more closely connected to Lucca – this may make geographical and administrative sense – but it is of course more to do with having good connections to a beautiful and wealthy relative. Lucca is much better known, and Pistoia, despite its very worthwhile atractions and so being always worth a visit, is not so famous. So there is shortly, we think, due to be a vote on where our comune should be. Anyway here is the Piazza Napoleone to finish off for this week. Napoleon so loved Lucca he gave the city as a gift to his sister Elisa – a beautiful gift!
