Barga, Lucca, Italy.
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Wonderful hilltop town in the Garfagnana. Some of the architecture goes back to pre Roman Etruscan times. Wander the medieval streets of the old town listening to the professional classical and jazz musicians rehearsing from the many windows, sipping coffee - or caffe corretto - on pavement cafes, visit the many restaurants, swim in the public open air pool with views of the Apuan Alps, go during the opera festival or the jazz festival, visit the gallery of late Scottish artist John Bellany, who made his home there. Go to the Duomo on top of the hill. Eat gelato in the sun.
Go to one of the Sagra - open air communal food festivals - including the Sagra del pesce e Patate, an open air fish and chip festival held in the mountains (many Barga families opened fish and chip shops in Scotland and maintain connections).
Go in August for the night time market held in the “new” town.
Visit nearby Castelnuovo for the street market that takes up most of the beautiful medieval castle-town.
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Visit nearby Lucca, with its piazza built around a Roman amphitheatre, with its Puccini museum.
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Visit the Grotta del Vento (cave of winds). The nearby thermal baths at Bagni di Lucca. The hermitage of Calomini - a monastery built into the face of a deep rocky gorge above a high cliff.
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Or take a day out to Florence or the Amalfi coast.
It’s all stunning and I’m talking myself into going back!
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