Somehow Tuscany has remained an orange zone for the moment while much of Italy has moved to red with more restrictions. All of Italy will be red for three days over Easter. With some luck things might get better after that.
A few weeks ago I ordered something from a shop in Lucca. I had a call to tell me it was ready to be collected on Friday. I fully expected to be stopped on the way to Lucca to explain my reason for going there, but that didn’t happen.
Lucca was very quiet, with few people on the streets, so I went for a walk to the beautiful Corso Garibaldi where the street is lined with magnolia trees. This is the time they are usually in bloom and this year they are spectacular. The weather has been warm and sunny and the flowers haven’t been damaged by rain or frost. It was actually raining on Friday, but there were a few brief flashes of sun.
I have to repeat a description I found many years ago about Corso Garibaldi…If you will be there around the half of March you will fill the emotion of walking between the wings of magnolia trees, whose leafage full of flowers looks like the big rose-coloured fire works even though…unnaturally static.
This is the end of the street where there is a path up to the top of the wall. The trees are beginning to show the first signs of spring.
Who knows when I will get back to Lucca…I hope it is soon.