Viareggio
Viareggio is a beach town in Tuscany famous for its carnivals. Puccini was born in the nearby city of Lucca. He particularly loved the area around the village of Torre del Lago, and Lake Massaciuccoli, a wetlands area shown above, between Viareggio and Lucca. He moved there in 1921, composed there (and he is buried there) at the edge of the lake. It is now home to an annual opera festival, the Festival Puccini.
The English poet Shelley, another operatic figure, was drowned off the coast here in 1822. His boat, the "Don Juan" (of course!), went down during a storm and Shelley's body washed ashore. He was cremated on the beach (see this painting). He was only 29.
