Arrivo e Lucca

​Quite deservedly, I cop a fair amount of stick about the degree to which I obsess over all kinds of details such as, say, a planned trip to Tuscany for a month.  And even I will admit that I might have given a fair bit of forethought to our arrival in Lucca.  And so, to walk through the Porta San Pietro and find myself inside the walled city - a place I had viewed and imagined from afar for so long - was somewhat overwhelming.  We had time for a short stroll through parts of the city before it was time to collect the rental car we had pre-booked and head to our villa in the hills nearby.  But we will be returning to the inside of the walls for much more exploration in coming weeks.
I have never driven a left hand drive car before, and never driven in Europe.  So our first few miles in the rented Ford Kuga included a few moments of raised eyebrows and tightened grip as my passengers wondered about the wisdom of getting into the car with me, and I struggled to come to terms with the fact that there was a whole lot of car on my right hand side which had never been there before!  Anyway, we made it to a small supermarket (a chain called Conad, even as much as Jeannie wanted to name if after an organ of reproduction) and purchased some supplies, before negotiating ever narrowing roads up to the tiny village of Colle di Compito where we will be living for the next month.
​The villa and the village are an absolute delight.  In addition to a beautifully appointed full kitchen in the main house, the villa also has a separate wood-fired kitchen for the making of bread and pizza.  The village is even more delightful, and we had a lovely moment yesterday when we opened the gate to the street to find the local mobile green grocer, Rosella, outside the gate with a huge selection of high quality fruit and veg.  As a result of that, and a visit to the local bakery and the local butcher, dinner last night was Panzanella (bread salad) for primo (first course), followed by sausages with peach, prosciutto and mozzarella salad for secondo (second course).
We’ve had some quite heavy rain over the last couple of days, but that did not stop me having a glass of Chianti Classico and a long soak in the jacuzzi.  
Rob Reid is trundling his way towards us as I tap out this post.  He should be with us for dinner tonight which will be at a local trattoria.
Also, thousands of miles away, Nika Bennett is enjoying a personal milestone and we are thinking of her.
Happy days.