LOCAL SHOPS AND RESTAURANTS: With approx. 30 inhabitants in Celle, there is not enough business to warrant shops. There is a bread van that comes 4 x week in the morning for fresh bread & crusty rolls. Fresh eggs can be bought from our neighbour from their own chickens. However only 10 mins drive down the hill is Diecimo. There is a row of small shops run by the locals, a baker who bakes on the premises and a deli next door, he sells fruit and veg, cheese, milk, water, salami, very good quality meat etc. There is Bini's cafe, where you can have a coffee & delicious cakes and panini (fresh filled rolls) . Further up the road in Borgo Mozzano (home of the Devils Bridge) there is a supermarket & large deli. For a 'main' shop Esselunga in Marlia which is on the way to Lucca stocks a vast selection of goods.
There are many great RESTAURANTS within 8-10mins drive from Celle & also in the village itself serving fresh homemade Tuscan food, made with local produce and local wines served.
GIACOMO PUCCINI CONCERTS: The “PUCCINI E LA SUA LUCCA” festival is the only permanent festival in the world. Recitals, opera selections, special concerts are all held in the beautiful and stunning Basilica in the very core of Lucca (San Giovanni), every evening at 7pm - tickets can be bought at the door. Everytime with a different cast of singers & different programmes, in order to give the audience the greatest possible spectrum of the wonderful music of Giacomo Puccini, often flanked by the music of other great Italian operatic composers.
TORRE DEL LAGO, home of the Puccini Festival (July/August) lies between the Lake of Massaciuccoli & the sea, 4 km from the magnificent beaches of Viareggio, 18 km from Lucca . The Festival welcomes about 40.000 spectators every year to its open-air theatre, just a few steps from the Villa Mausoleum where Giacomoi lived & worked. His mortal remains are now in a small chapel inside the Villa. He turned an old watch tower by the lake into his villa, now a museum.
.
OFF PEAK HOLIDAYS ALSO HAVE THEIR ATTRACTION: MAY & JUNE are wonderful months to visit, when the air smells of honey & the wild flowers are abundant. Temperatures are at their most comfortable. This is an excellent time for walking & there are many walks in and around Celle.
SEPT & OCT are interesting months when the grapes are picked & the wine is made. October is when the fabulous porcini mushrooms appear & the locals go hunting in secret to find them in the forests. The restaurant menus change to include delicious dishes using these precious mushrooms, precious because the season is so short. It is also the season for zucca (pumpkin) & there are zucca festivals in nearby villages where you can buy locally made produce. October is time for collecting and roasting chestnuts over the log fire - logs supplied. Walnuts also now.
In the Spring (May) and Autumn (mid Sept - mid Oct) the temperatures are at their most comfortable and pleasant. July and August are usually hot and temperatures tend to stay around 30 - 35 degrees.
