April 23rd, 2016
On our last full day in Italy, we ventured out of Lucca to travel to the town of Collodi. One of the books I had checked out from the library, Italy with Kids, recommended a day trip to this birthplace of Pinocchio. A charming park dedicated to the precocious, boy puppet was opened there in 1956. I had showed pictures of the place to the boys before we left Germany. Thankfully, it served as a great motivator to get out of our apartment once again and go exploring.
We navigated the maze of streets in Lucca on our way to the train station. I enjoyed taking in the sites of ordinary life as we walked by. A woman made a cup out of her hand for her dog to drink some water from the fountain. A restaurant put out flowers to entice the senses in more ways than one. People walked down the street, holding hands as they talked. These little things remind me of how much people share in common, regardless of culture and location.
We bought roundtrip tickets at the train station for the town of Pescia, about a twenty-minute train ride from Lucca. To pass the time, we ate lunch at a little Italian restaurant nearby. When we ordered, we told our server about catching a train. He understood as we scarfed our meal down when it finally came; taking some of our calzone in a bag before running to catch our train. We made it and praised the boys for running alongside us to make it possible!
On the train, Hubby read the Pinocchio book lil S had received from Grammy Julie for his birthday. It was a great way to set the stage for the Pinocchio Park. Our stop came up faster than we expected. Thanks to hubby’s good listening ears, we got off the train just in time! We took a taxi up the winding hillside to the picturesque town of Collodi. The rural Tuscan countryside is inhabited by farmers, artisans and merchants and may have been the inspiration for Carlo Lorenzini’s story, The Adventures of Pinocchio. Lorenzini lived in Collodi as a child. He later took the pen name Carlo Collodi.
When we arrived in the early afternoon, we walked right up to the ticket window and through the gates of Pinocchio Park. I was enchanted with the scenery. The park does a wonderful job integrating nature and art, including sculptures from famous Italian artists.
The weather was amazing! We warmed up as we moved through more than forty different areas that followed the story of Pinocchio’s adventures. Here are some of our favorites:
The Big Chessboard!
The Shimmy and Venetian Roundabouts…amusement park rides
The Puppet Theatre…the show was in Italian and though we could barely understand what was going on, the boys still laughed out loud!
Monstro, the large whale who swallowed Geppeto…it spouted water from it’s HUGE head. It was prohibited to sit on his massive tongue but we still enjoyed climbing around his teeth.
The Massive Labyrinth…it took a bit for us to figure out how to get out! We discovered Turbo’s grandfather (reference from an earlier post) on one of the outside walls. The boys were sad to leave him there but, without a passport, it was best for him to not leave Italy!
A 
The Pirate Ship…a ropes course for kids five and older. I think the instructor was shocked when our youngest shouted out, “I’m FIVE!!!!!” He was SO excited! Though I held my breath at times as I watched them do the course, I loved seeing their confidence and determination grow. They both did it three times. They would have spent the rest of the day there if we had let them.
The Pinocchio Park truly spurs on a child’s imagination in a beautiful, artistic and natural setting. Well done. Three Cheers to Collodi!
When we got back to Lucca, we all wanted to ride the walls one more time…so we did!
We finished off our day with a scoop of gelato! Yum!!
Tuscany was all that I dreamed of and so much more. I was sad to leave. Our short week gave us a wonderful taste of this lovely landscape; a rich flavor that continues to linger…like the gelato! Its not just a place, its a mind-set that inspires one to cultivate beauty and live well. What a gift it was to experience it.
Arrivederci!
(Disclaimer: Though traveling with kids is an incredibly worthwhile endeavor, we still experience many patience-trying, teeth-clenching moments. We make cultural faux pas, stick out like sore thumbs at times and are challenged to react well to meltdowns in the middle of quaint, little streets. I often forgot these tough moments as I look back and capture memories here on the blog. Believe me, they are there…I’m just not taking pictures in the midst of them. That’s a good thing because I still get excited to plan another trip!)
