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Immediately outside  the walled city of Lucca, beyond the Serchio river, there is  an area so called Morianese which is  the vegetable town garden, and then next to it, the beautiful hills cultivated with olive trees.

Casa del Tiglio is located on  one of these hills.  A special place where a special woman used to live. This house is part of a small hamlet whose construction dates back to 1700.

Originally peasants lived on the property, they  worked the land and they used to produce the olive oil for a wealthy local family. Then it was abandoned and finally, in 1991 it was bought by a group of friends who restructured the property, some of them lived there permanently, some  only during  holidays. 

Casa del Tiglio was inhabited until a few months ago by Vera Michelin Salomon. For many years Vera has enjoyed the peace of this place: the view, the summer breeze, the beautiful outdoor patio where she used to have her meals, and the lindon  tree under which she spent her time immersed in great readings and organising meetings with “her pupils”, until the last months of her long and intense life, was committed to keep the “Memory” alive by meeting young people in schools and universities to whom she used to  give speech about her experiences.

Unlike the millions of people who have never been able to tell it. Because she was antifascist, Vera was inprisoned by the SS in Rome, and then sent to Germany to serve her sentence. She survived as few around her did..

After her Death, Chiara her daughter, decided to share this lovely  and special house, with you for your holidays with your friends or your family , in total relaxation, among the olive groves, walks in the woods, rides to the beach in Versilia,  and to  beautiful Lucca.

I’m happy, in  these difficoult and strange days, to write about us, about our beautiful land, Tuscany.
I invite you to close your eyes and imagine a future time, a near future time,  when you will come and discover these special places.

Spending a few days in Lucca in the summer, but I, personally love it almost even more in the winter, it also means being able to go to the beach, which is quite close by.

There are high class resorts on the coast , but today  I’d like to write you about my favorite one, the one where my children spent their childhood. 
This is the beach of Marina di Vecchiano, about 20/25 minutes from Lucca, by car.
It is a deep beach with clear sand, inside the San Rossore National
Park.
Close to the beach is the Tenuta Salviati, a  huge wooded and agricultural property belonging to the same Florentine family, since the 16th century.
They were the largest Italian pine nut producers and, even today, their production is protected and considered excellent.

The beach therefore has a 360 degree view, on the west  side the sea, to the south on clear days you can see the island of Elba, to the north the beautiful Apuan Alps, (which Alps are not, but so called because they are really similar to the famous Dolomites) and to the est the park forest.

In summer, part of the beach is organized and for a fee you will find umbrellas, deck chairs and showers, as well as a few restaurants and pizzerias, all built with materials that blend well with nature among the beautiful dunes.

It is mainly populated by local people,  from Lucca and Pisa, particularly crowded on Saturdays and Sundays in summer, while on weekdays it is much more accessible.

Lucca is a delightful town: the center of the world. This is what we always tell our friends and guests when we invite them to spend here some time.

If you follow us on this page in the next few days , we will share the reason why holidays in Lucca satisfy everyone’s tastes: small children, teenagers, those who are no longer young, couples and groups of friends. Within the walls there are plenty of opportunities for art, entertainment, culture, shopping and fine restaurants. Outside the walls: nature, beach, mountains and the most authentic Tuscan hills.

To enjoy all this, Casa Gemma is perfect for families with kids.(https://goguest.it/proprieta/) This house is located in a side street of the main city’s artery , the famous Fillungo, the road that crosses Lucca from north to south. It is an extremely comfortable apartment on the ground floor, inside a small courtyard with a wrought iron gate.

Families with children are always excited to stay there for many reasons: it is easy to move around by foot, there is space for bikes (it is easy to rent them!), the kitchen is large, comfortable and there is no need to wash the dishes (we also have dishwasher) and parking is not far away. We are very lucky here! Inside the walls (a complete ring 4.5 km long) access to cars is very limited. Our youngest children can therefore move almost totally safe and our teenagers as well, because the town is very safe.