Amazing Women

Dee and Ankie

One of the highlights of the Lucca trip has been the opportunity to meet some of Dee's friends who live near here, like Ankie from Holland who moved to San Quirico following a divorce and renovated a house into a B&B. She hosts students from Holland who are studying Italian. We walked to San Quirico from Lucca and spent a lovely evening with Ankie eating pecorino cheese, caper berries and drinking prosecco. We hired a taxi to bring us back to Lucca.

This is the river we crossed on the way to Ankie's house.

Inger Sannes

On Friday, we met Inger Sannes, who quit a management position with IBM in Sweden to become a sculptor at the age of 49, eight or ten years ago. She met us for lunch and then took us to her sculptor's studio in Pietrasanta. Every piece she has sculpted since she started has sold. Just the shipping for some of her pieces is about 200,000 Euro.

Inger at Work

Pietrasanta

I wish you could see the way this piece looks when the light shines on it. All of the marble is quarried from the same mountain as Michaelangelo's pieces.

Clara

Sillaboo Vineyard

Next we met Clara who owns a small vineyard called Sillaboo. She shared with us what it takes to operate a vineyard and we tasted four white wines which is their specialty and one red.

I just want to hang out in this chair

On Sunday, Kathleen Dunne, an artist, hosted us for lunch on at her Tuscan home in Orbicciano. This is Kathleen's dining room with a piece of her artwork.

Kathleen moved to Orbicciano from California with Sophie and Brando in 2002 when she was 70.

Dee and Kathleen walking Sophie and Brando.

Panzanella

Kathleen served us a wonderful Tuscan lunch of potato leek soup followed by panzanella with mozzarella, olive oil and fresh basil under the wisteria arbor. Also local italian wine and gelato.