Rain, Puddles, and the Nottolini Aqueduct

Rain is falling again. It drizzles then stops. Then pours. There’s lightning, there’s thunder, and it’s wonderful. It has rained here every day and night this week. The stoned streets are puddled, our rain jackets wet, and we are warm and safe in our lovely Tuscan flat. My seven year old has finished her 4th book in the last two days. Boy, has life taken a turn. My girls hardly know what to think, coming from a drought ridden California. It has honestly rained here more in the last week than it has in the last year for us. We have been praying for rain for so long, that we are truly just tickled to open the windows and marvel at the sights and sounds. Well I am at least. The rain is loud on the rooftop, and we have employed earplugs to help the girls sleep.

After a wet week, we took a Friday field trip. We decided to stay close to home and explore greater Lucca on our bikes. We made a quick stop to pick up lunch on our way outside the city walls and we were off. Dave had done a bit of research and served as tour guide for the day. In keeping with our wet week, we decided to ride to the Nottolini Aqueduct and follow the trail to the cistern. A round trip of approximately 8 miles. It was an overcast day, and we were glad to be out of the house!

We crossed a few busy streets before we arrived at the trail and found it had suffered the effects of a week's worth of rain. After a quick family meeting, we decided to press on, but not without anxiety! Thankfully this entrance was the muddiest, and our whole day was not quite so treacherous. AND the girls eventually got braver and rode right through the puddles. Yay! Another adventure! I love watching these two girls tackle challenges. 

Along the way we stopped and ate our lunch, Arya claiming the one dry spot. While we ate we took in the countryside around us. We were among plowed fields, brambles of berries, and Tuscan farmhouses with chicken coops and gardens. Bisecting it all was this 160 year old aqueduct. After 28 years of construction the idea of getting fresh water from several springs on Mount Pisano all the way to Lucca was realized in 1851. No, this was not an ancient roman structure.

Finishing lunch, we followed our muddy path alongside the 400 arches towards the neoclassical cistern at the base of the mountain in Guamo. We parked our bikes and everyone explored. Because the aqueduct is no longer in operation, we were able to climb around what is left. Inside the cistern, there is a basin divided in two parts, where water was channelled into 3250 meters of brick and masonry all the way to a little temple cistern in San Concordio. The larger cistern we were exploring was moss and vine covered, stained from weather and erosion, but nonetheless stunning. We all enjoyed singing and yelling into the abandoned structure and hearing the reverberation of our own voices!

We walked past the cistern to check out the surrounding area and got a true taste of country living, complete with a "Buongiorno!" from two elderly women and a not so ferocious dog protecting his domain.

On our way home we decided on a different path so that we could stop for groceries, and got a little lost. Or misdirected? Perhaps we just misinterpreted directions from a very sweet old man that we rode past. All ended well. Just a few more marshy paths, a dead rat, and the pushing of our bikes over an overpass. Groceries in baskets, we arrived home before dark and settled in for what looks to be another week filled with rain!