Amoroso, or the
amoroso must be allowed to come to the house to visit them. This is an
ancient custom among them and has no pernicious consequences, nor does it
interfere with their other good qualities. At the back of Lucca is an
immense mountain which stands between it and Pisa, and intercepts the
reciprocal view of the two cities which are only ten miles distant from
each other. This mountain and its peculiarity is the very one mentioned by
Dante in his Inferno in the episode of Ugolino:
Cacciando il lupo e i lupicini AL MONTE,
PER CHE i Pisan veder Lucca NON ponno.[101]
I started from Lucca in a cabriolet and in two hours arrived at Pisa,
putting up at the Tre Donzelle on the Quai of the Arno. Between Lucca and
Pisa are the Bagni di Lucca, a favorite resort for the purpose of bathing
and drinking the mineral waters.
Pisa is one of the most beautiful cities I have seen in Italy. The extreme
elegance and comfort of the houses, the spacious Quai on the Arno which
furnishes a most agreeable promenade, the splendid style of architecture of
the Palazzi and public buildings, the cleanliness of the streets, the
salubrity of the climate, the mildness of the winter, the profusion and
cheapness of all the necessaries of life, and above all the amenity and
simplicity of the inhabitants, combine to make Pisa an agreeable and
favorite residence.
