Yes, it's a real place. That's why I liked Milan. It's a real city. Not Disneyworld. Venice is an exception: it really is everything you hope it'll be. You just have to stay away from the tourists.
But that apartment in Lucca was awful. The woman had put an armadio over the FRONT DOOR. So once you were in the place, if you forgot about that, it seemed to have no exits.