Lucca : the Scent of a City

I went to Lucca for a family wedding but I came away with a cultural history. The City of Lucca is drenched with history, tradition and a micro-climate contained within a circle of stone. It is a walled City of medieval streets and layers of civilisations within a small space . It is a maze of buildings observed best from the skyline or if you are not a bird then you can view it from one of the many towers you can climb. I did two. I have to say I was concentrating on other things as I slowly scaled the many steps to the tree-lined famous tower to view many of the 100 plus churches that exist in Lucca, but that was only because I suffer from vertigo, I needed to reach the top for personal reasons and  then once I had walked down I had to do it all again with the bell-tower. Personal risks and markers have a lot to answer for!

The view was fantastic and different from each tower, a small city but a microcosm of life exists and has existed here.

Many things happened here for me, to me and are still happening like an echo. Some of which I will share here, some I won't. But only because they are really exciting things, the type of stimuli that I hear other people say about Italy, how they found their characters, their story and I would like to share that but it will be at a later time , suffice to say I have joined the group that have fallen in love with Italy. An Italy that speaks to the traveller if you are prepared  to listen. In my case I did listen but I listened with my nose or rather my nose led me. The lime trees that span the walls are overwhelmingly sweet , the breeze that gently blows the fragrance across the city is enticing as it gently wafts into your pathway, turn a corner and it is gone, turn another and you recognise it instantly like a silent whisper.

I visited a creative perfumier who called me from her beautiful displays , elegant perfection , an enticing invitation written in an alcoholic distillation that you could become addicted to by observation before you had even succumbed to its seductive olfactory powers. Visit this beautiful website  to find out about the philosophy behind the perfumes.http://www.sdlprofumi.com/ENG/ Have a play, press the buttons, watch the balloon, listen to the music, look at the pictures and you will have a sense of the City. You will need to own  a fragrance created by the talented perfumier Simonetta Giurlani Pardini.

                                     

I chose to purchase 'Luludi' the perfume inspired by the  Botanic Gardens. I had been there twice and viewed the variety of plants and spent hours walking,writing , talking and listening. I had also walked the walls and viewed the garden from them and other gardens and I wanted to remember the essence of the City as I felt this fragrance had captured it so well. The quiet tranquil space of water, ancient trees, the herbal garden and the passion that exists within and with any one who creates or wears perfume or grows a perfumed garden are encapsulated in this bottle,described as Head notes, Heart notes and Base notes it contains violet, rose, jasmine, cedar wood and wood iris amongst other notes. You can read these ingredients for yourself on the side of the box but nothing can compare to wearing the perfume. It is like wearing a layer of history, a layer of mystery . It is confident , alluring and rich with an air of calculated sophistication that is hypnotic.  This was the essence of Lucca for me. There are two other fragrances and I will share them with you in my usual disjointed fashion when I have enjoyed wearing them. Here is a hint.

 A little cooking, a little reading, a little smelling. But this is how I work , how I write, how I read and how I think and live, nothing is sequential , so please drop in from time to time and maybe you will find an answer if you have a question, or maybe you will just enjoy the visit. But if you have a chance do visit the city of Lucca  visit the Botanic Gardens then stroll down the Via V.Veneto  you are in for a treat and a wisp of a memory in a bottle.