Brian Lindquist
For the students at the International Studies Institute, Florence comes to define Italy—a big city, crammed with art, spectacular buildings, and great nightlife. They will probably go to Rome but many weekends they are off to Barcelona, Paris, Prague or any other hotspots they’ve heard about. They are less likely to venture nearer towns and cities only a few hours away. When they do, they often feel that they have seen the ‘real’ Italy.
The nearest of these destinations is Lucca, about an hour’s bus ride from Florence. Getting even just a glimpse of this city will intrigue you enough to want to know more about it. If you do dig deeper, you will gain an entirely new perspective on Florence, for Lucca was great while Florence was still a backwater, and it is the one city in Tuscany that Florence never conquered.
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