After School Bike Ride and Grocery Shopping

Uber green Tuscan hillsides after spring rains, trees leafing out, flowers blossoming. Perfection for an after-school bike ride up to a hill town outside the walls of Lucca. We followed the Via Francigena north of town along the river and up a mountain. We climbed up past a huge Azienda Agricola — olive groves and grapevines. (Main photo). The blue netting drapes gracefully between trees until harvest time when they are spread open to capture the falling olives. (Extra photos). The church and bell tower greets us at the entrance of the hilltop village which is on the only road through the town…a really, really narrow road - imagine negotiating two way traffic of cars, cyclists and Pilgrims walking the Via Francigena. But it is a sleepy village and traffic is not a concept here. On the way home we stopped at the big supermarket just outside Lucca. Stocking up on provisions for the upcoming Easter weekend. I just had to include photos of the pasta aisle - it took four adjacent shots to get the whole aisle! And that’s not all of them! the gluten-free pastas are on a different aisle and the fresh pastas are refrigerated in the deli section! Mamma mia!