So what do we do in the off-season, when there are no weddings in Lucca? Seasonal activities include picking olives in November, skiing, the closest ski resort is Abetone, about an hour North-West of Lucca, and ice skating.

In December there is usually an open-air ice rink in Lucca, in Piazza Grande. Then there is at least one open year round in Cerreto Laghi, an hour and a half North. In January and February though, the closest one is a small ice rink under a tent in Lido di Camaiore, 30 minutes away, by the beach.

It's fairly small, but we found it not too crowded on a Saturday afternoon, so we thought it very pleasant. This year it is open until February 25th, and charges €6 an hour, including the rental of the ice skates.

If the weather is nice, after you're done, you can then enjoy a nice stroll on the boardwalk. All in all a great day trip, especially for kids.

Links

I love Lucca streetlamps. They come in 2 models, curvy and boxy. Both are quite simple, but very elegant. In the Summer light, their dark tones contrast perfectly with the orange-yellow of most of the walls in the city, and produce beautiful shadows.

This is not about a wedding, Lucca or even Tuscany. But if you take your kids to Italy, they could very well end up being swept in the Gormiti craze, so it's definitely worth a word of warning! ;--)

Gormiti(s) (that's the plural form, singular is Gormita) are monsters, some good and some evil. They live on the Island of Gorm, and fight ferociously for its control. They are divided into people, each attached to an element (for some rather loose definition of an element). The evil ones, at the moment (it changes every now and then), are the people of the Volcano, Darkness and Air. They fight for the terrible magician Magor. The good ones, the people of the Earth, Sea, Forest and Light, fight to defend their island, with the help of the Vecchio Saggio (the Old Wise Man) and his Occhio della Vita (the Eye of Life, a magical stone).

The original Gormiti are little plastic action figures sold at newstands. A new collection is released every 6 months or so, at which point the story evolves, new Gormiti appear, old ones gain new powers, new people are created... Then kids try to get their parents to buy them all, which is pretty difficult as they are usually at least 30 items in a collection, and as they come in opaque plastic bags that prevent you from seeing which ones you are buying. Young children find it really frustrating and hate doppioni (doubles), while older ones enjoy trading them with their friends. A note to our young readers: studies show that grand parents seem also to be a very good source of Gormiti.

Italian boys are really crazy about the Gormiti. For some reason most girls seem pretty resistent to the whole thing, though. Maybe it's because they are monsters, the elaborate descriptions of their powers that appear on the cards that come with the figurines or maybe the overall story arc, in any case they provide for hours of entertainement. And passionate arguments between friends about which one is the most powerful of all.

Once you have enough of a collection, you can line them up and create very impressive armies. If you are as crazy about photography as our son is, you can then take pictures of them, tweak them a bit, et voilà: Gormiti planets!

If you are a bit lost (or a parent!) you can also follow the story in the Gormiti Magazine, which also comes with such goodies as the Gormiti Mug, the Gormiti Watch or even a super cool DVD, which will show you all the Gormiti battles, and will no doubt lead your kids to sing the Gormiti music every time they play with the action figures. Note that if you have any doubt about the name of a figurine, or its powers, you can ask the parents of any boy between 5 and 10, they will display very impressive knowledge of the whole Gormito universe.

The maker of the figurine seems to have been initially a bit surprised by their success. 2 years ago you could not find one in Lucca: all the stores were sold out 3 weeks before Christmas. But the company has since recovered remarkably, and you can now buy Gormiti backpacks, shoes, socks, shirts, scooters, battlecards, remote controlled cars, chocolate eggs, potato chips... plus of course bigger Gormiti action figures, even bigger Gormiti action figures, and really, really big, talking, Gormiti action figures. I am sure there is more to come (life size Gormiti statues anyone?).