Author: A Hap-pea Traveller

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The Italian Job – Day 5

Scorchio in Florence

Leaving La Spezia at 9.15 this morning, we enjoyed a comfortable train trip (1 change in Pisa) to Florence. Stepping out of the train, I was hit by two sensations – 1, the sheer number of people and two, the heat! One of the reasons for coming to Florence in April was because it is too hot to do southern European cities in July and August, but this was scorchio! Unseasonably so, hitting 29 degrees! Still, better the blue skies and heat, than leaden grey and rain. Florence is beautiful, even more so with the backdrop of an azure blue sky.

After checking in (our apartment is a mere 30 seconds from the Cathedral!) we headed to the Mercato Centrale – a big food hall – to grab some lunch. Here, you had to embrace the chaos, it was busy, busy, busy, but did provide the opportunity to try many different types of food.

For me, the Arranchini balls were my favourite.

Refreshed and refuelled, we headed out into the (sun baked) streets to explore the city, and what a pretty place it is. I grew up in the shadow of Wells Cathedral, which boasts the magnificent west front – one of the finest cathedrals in the world, bedecked with, I believe, more stone statues than any other – so sometimes cathedrals and churches can leave me a little “meh – good, but nothing special.” But Florence Cathedral is beautifully different. I spent much of the day thinking it was painted, it was only this evening that it was pointed out to me (by Becky, must give her credit for educating me!) that it isn’t painted, but its colourful facade is made up from different coloured stones. Magnificent, there is no other word for it.

Disaster!

We ambled on from the cathedral and Duamo, looking for some famous coffee and ice cream in the same cup. We arrived at the shop to be met by a big queue (bad) but things got a whole lot worse, very quickly. As ever, Becky spotted a photo opportunity and whipped out her phone to take a pic, but she couldn’t log on to the phone. Her lock screen would flash up momentarily, before vanishing, leaving the black screen of death. We tried what we could, but couldn’t get it to work. Becky was horrified at the thought of not being able to take any photos (or having to use my steam driven, ancient (4 years old!) mobile with a feeble camera), I was worrying about what apps we couldn’t now access (our train tickets, next accommodation etc.) and the prospect of shelling out for a new phone.

Disconsolate, we abandoned the lengthy queue for the special coffee/ice cream, and wandered on, both deep in our disappointed thoughts. We found another cafe, ordered coffee, and looked again at the phone. Long story short, somehow the brightness had been turned right down, so low you couldn’t even see the brightness slider. After a bit of trial and error, we worked out were the brightness slider was and were able to blindly slide it up. Let there be light! Hallelujah! The phone was working again, crisis averted, our travels could continue …

We saw some magnificent marble statues, like this one of Neptune:

… but round a corner, and down a side street we saw this much more modern (2021) statue that was my favourite:

We crossed the Ponte Vecchio (bridge) and climbed the hill to the Piazza Michelangelo and sat on the steps to enjoy a picnic tea, a stunning vista across Florence, and await the sun to set over the city. Sadly, every other tourist in Florence seems to have had the same idea. We (no surprise!) got there early, found our space on the steps, soaked in the sun and enjoyed the ambience. But as time wore on, more and more people arrived – not a problem – and also sat on the steps. With the steps now pretty full, however, many other people – the late arrivals – didn’t seem to see the bank of people sat on the steps and think: “nah, there’s no way through there.” No, steady stream of people tried to pick their way up and down the stairs, carving a thoroughfare through those of us sat taking in the view. (Just to be clear, there was a path to the side of the stairs that people could use)

This was our view when we first sat down:

… and this was the scene when we finally abandoned our spot some 30 minutes before sunset …

We headed back down the hill, enjoying fantastic views along the river and across the city

… before heading “home” after dark, happy and contented after a blisteringly hot day in the beautiful city of Florence.

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The Italian Job – Day 4

To Levanto, and back to my happy place

With no train strikes to worry about, and no schedule to follow, the alarm was set for a little later this morning, and en-route to the train station we breakfasted in a cafe near our apartment – it is in beautiful square, with beautiful buildings, trees and gardens, but I don’t think it is the most “up-market” of neighbourhoods. This is no problem – it meant we had a breakfast of coffee, pastries and focaccia, listening to the lingo of the locals as they chatted, all for only a handful of euros.

We had decided to go beyond the Cinque Terre today to the next town along the coast – Levanto. Travel to this town was included on our Cinque Terre passes, so it made sense to explore what some call the “sixth” village of the Cinque Terre. Arriving under a beautiful “big” blue sky (the weather today has been perfect – wall to wall sunshine, not too hot if you were in the sun, but still pleasantly warm in the shade) we headed out from the train station and ambled through a very pretty town to the sea front.

I liked Levanto – its streets were wide and clean, punctuated with pretty buildings- another stripy church:

…and a quirky castle (although this is in private ownership, and you couldn’t enter it, only admire its strength and stature from outside)

We bought some focaccia sandwiches and a bottle of beer to share, sat on a sunny bench looking out to sea and ate a leisurely lunch before just continuing to sit and chill, enjoying the view, the calm and each other company.

Then we jumped back on the train for a 5 minute hop back to Monterosso were we spent most of the rest of the afternoon, including some more time for me back in the sea.

So far on our trip, we had seen four of the five of the Cinque Terre, so we thought we should complete the set, and took another 5 minute train ride to Corniglia. Here, when you get of the train you need to ascend a fairly hefty hill to the village – some hardy souls set off walking upwards. We, sensibly, waited at the station for ten minutes for the shuttle bus (free – as part of our Cinque Terre ticket) to whisk us up the steep, steep hill, passing all those walkers that had set off long before we had. We disembarked to find another pretty village, often with commanding views over the seascape, but with no access to the sea. It did seem like the sole purpose of the village was to satisfy the tourists (of which we were two of many) and so, whilst pretty and authentic, does begin to feel a little manufactured and contrived. Without the tourists, I don’t think it would survive as a community, but because of the tourists, it is losing some of its authenticity. I am a little conflicted, and I don’t know what the answer is, but I do know that of the five towns, for both of us it was our least favourite. However, I do feel a little churlish writing that when I am reminded that it afforded wonderful views like this:

Then back on the train again (the trains are magnificent – quick, clean, spacious and regular) to Riomaggiore where we bought some fried vegetables to have for tea, along with even more focaccia, eaten on another street bench.

As we waited for our train back to La Spezia, I asked Becky to rank the towns. She placed Cornigia in fifth place and Monterosso first, but could make up her mind on the others. For me, my running order is:

  1. Monterosso – biggest, and able to handle the hordes of visitors
  2. Vernazza – although this may be skewed as we arrived in the calm of (relatively) early morning, before the masses
  3. Riomaggiore – good street food, and pretty buildings
  4. Manarola – I had hoped for better swimming spots from here, plus was getting overcrowded when we arrived mid to late afternoon
  5. Corniglia – great views, but in danger of becoming a bit of a (beautiful) parody

Not part of the five, but Levanto would have been number one or two for me had it been in the list, and had I included all seven towns – the 5 Cinque Terre plus Levanto and Le Spazia, for me La Spazia would have placed third, (after Monterosso and Levanto battling for first and second) but Becky vehemently disagrees with me on this. And that’s fine, we should all have our own opinion and happily agree to disagree. The “Cinque Terre” is a beautiful collection of five towns, I loved visiting them all, hiking between two, and swimming from one, but I do like a bit of space, and some of them are too small to absorb the multitude of daily visitors (and I fully acknowledge that we were part of that problem to.)

Tomorrow we say “Arrivederci” to the Italian Riviera. and head in land to Florence and wider Tuscany.

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The Italian Job – Day 3

Cinque Terre

With a train strike to beat, the alarm was set for early o’clock and we were out the door of our apartment and on our way to La Spetzia train station before 8 o’clock. The train strike was scheduled from 9am to 1pm so we figured that we could get a train before then, and be where we wanted to be before the trains ground to a halt. We hoped on a train at 8.12 am from La Spetzia, and twenty minutes later we disembarked in the pretty coastal town of Vernazza.

Lets talk trains for a minute

Now I was expecting a little diesel train that would chug its way noisily, slowly and smellingly along the line, but how wrong was I. The train was a modern, clean, fast inter-city train – a double-decker, no less – that whizzed us comfortably and quickly across the track. The only disappointment was that most of the journey was in a tunnel; this was a train to get you from A to B quickly and effectively, it wasn’t a leisurely clickety-clack journey during which you took in the majestic vista as it unfolded in front of you.

… and we’re back

Vernazza is a charming little seaside town, nestled in the hills and stumbling down to the sea. In the calm of the early morning sun it was beautiful and serene and we started our day with coffee and cakes, and then more coffee, in a traditional Italian bar. We spent a pleasant twenty minutes or so exploring and enjoying the harbour, soaking up the the sun and smelling the fresh sea air before beginning our next step to beat the now striking trains, and headed off on the hiking trail to Monterosso. We had always planned to hike some of the trails between the 5 towns of the Cinque Terre, and we headed uphill in anticipation and excitement.

This trail is 3.6 Km long, estimated to take about an hour and a half and the graded difficulty is average. You need to pay to take this trail, but payment is included in the Cinque Terre pass that we had purchased for the two days, giving us unlimited train use between La Spetzia and Levanto (all the 5 towns are between those two bigger towns) and unlimited access to the hiking trails. We had received a top tip to hike from Vernazza to Monterosso as – whilst the total ascent and descent is the same, as you start and finish at sea level – the initial incline from Vernazza is much less steep than from Monterosso. As we descended a very, very step stone stair pathway at the other end, we were grateful to have received this bit of advice. If you do this hike, and only take one thing away from this blog, make it this tip: walk from Vernazza to Monterosso, not the other way round. You’ll be glad you did.

Although graded “average”, the hike was not simple – it was well marked and on a path all the way, you could not get lost, but it had some tough climbs and knee jarring descents. The path was stoney, and slippery in places (although never dangerous), you definitely need trainers or better walking footwear. It took us about two hours (including plenty of stops for Becky to take photos, and also, more frustratingly, to wait on narrow sections of the pass as walkers – sometimes in their hordes – came past.) The views were magnificent, and the sense of achievement when we arrived in Monterosso tangible.

My Happy Place

A year ago, I went for my old man MOT at the doctors surgery and, as part of the battery of tests, I had my blood pressure taken. Whilst the cuff inflated around my arm, the nurse practitioner told me to relax, to imagine myself in my happy place. For me, that was bobbing in the crystal clear blue sea of Croatia’s coast. I love being in the sea in beautiful places. So, somewhat warm and weary after our hike, I had to take the plunge into the sea once we hit the beach at Monterosso.

The air was warm, the sun beating down, but the sea was a bit chilly ( to be expected, it is only mid April) But I enjoyed a ten minute swim in the clear blue water, I know I would have regretted it had I missed the opportunity.

Like an iguana, I baked on a rock to dry off, before we headed into the old town to grab some lunch (pizza and salad) and amble through the streets. A feature of the region seems to be black and white striped churches and I don’t know why, but I find them very aesthetically appealing.

We spent quite a bit of time exploring Monterosso – its bigger than the other four villages, and has the feel of a holiday resort, and before we had finished with the town, 1pm had been and gone – the train strike was over and we got on a (busy!) train heading back to La Spezia, but jumped off after two stops and ten minutes at Manrola, which we explored, (and sat and chilled in the sun for some time) before getting another train to Riomaggiore, which we wandered around in for an hour or so, before heading back to La Spezia, and home, with slightly aching limbs, only to remember we then had to climb 96 steps to our apartment on the top floor!

The Cinque Terre villages are lovely, and I really enjoyed the day. My only “but” would be that as the day wore on, they did get very busy. For this reason, I think Monterosso was my favourite – it had the size to accommodate all the tourists (us included) who were disgorged into the towns by train, boat and trail. And this was April; I wonder what they would be like in July or August – quite possibly too hot and too crowded? I’m glad the train strike forced us to make an early start: Vernazza in the peace and calm of (relatively) early morning was beautiful, and I’m glad I hiked a trail. The weather was perfect, warm and sunny throughout, we both enjoyed a lovely day.

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The Italian Job – Day 1 and 2

Pisa and La Spetzia

At circa 9pm last night, local time, we touched down at Pisa airport after a pleasant enough two hour flight across Europe. Things got a little bumpy as we crossed the alps, but soon afterwards the tyres kissed the tarmac, we taxied in, hopped off the jet, whizzed through passport control (being the 2nd and 3rd brits to Border Control helped – I’m sure those at the back of the queue would have taken significantly longer. Blummin’ brexit) onto the Pisa Mova, a driver-less train that whisked us into the city centre, a quick check of the map, and a five minute walk to our apartment. It was dark, you couldn’t see a lot, but you knew you were in a different country – the warmth, the smell (the delightful perfume of blossoming trees); it felt good to be on our travels again.

We did little that night, but unpack our necessities, and head to bed, dreaming of the adventures to come, although those dreams were interrupted by the sound of torrential rainfall and the high pitched buzz of a couple of mozzies (that took delight in feasting on Becky’s English blood.) The rain stopped, morning came, and we headed out into the Pisa, still some clouds scudding across the blue sky, warm, but not hot (t-shirt & fleece weather) to see what we could see.

We were looking for the mural by Kieth Haring, but before we saw that, we saw this:

Galileo Galilei gazing through the skies, with the leaning tower as his telescope.

It wasn’t long, though, before we found the Haring:

Then it was time for breakfast – the first Italian coffee of the trip, and some delizosio cakes.

Refreshed, and reminded of the wonders of Italian food and drink ( a theme to be repeated throughout the day) we headed off through charming streets, in the vague direction of the famous leaning tower, pausing to admire the architecture, fruit and veg stalls, and men’s tailoring we encountered along the way.

The leaning tower was impressive, and well worth a visit, and the surrounding building equally impressive and the space able to accommodate the multitude of tourists (all trying to get the shot of them holding up the tower), although I do wonder if in height of summer tourist season the hordes might be a little overwhelming.

Then lunch – nothing fancy, simply a salad, a bruschetta and a sandwich, but those few words do not do the deliciousness justice. I love Spain, since learning the language I’ve become increasingly interested in its history and culture, but its food is – dare I say it – nothing special (tapas is really just snacks, after all) . But Italy? Italian food is delicious, a highlight of day two (today) has been the food. All vegetarian, basically bread, tomato, basil, mozzarella and olive oil – it tastes so good. A battle for number one spot is going on in my head (stomach?) – Greek food has long sat at the top of the table for me, but the Italians are making a strong case to be numero uno (although, should they lose their crown, the Greeks will have the opportunity to reclaim it come the summer when we embark on our Greek Odyssey.)

After lunch, we took a train (about 1hr 30 mins) to La Spetzia, our base for the next few days , from which we will explore the Cinque Terre. We journeyed through coastal plain to our left and mountains to our right, and, as we got closer to our destination, the clouds sunk lower across the mountains and we arrived in La Spetzia to rain. Rather than head out into the rain, we popped in to the Cinque Terre information office – a good job we did as they told us that tomorrow there was to be a train strike, and would be no trains between 9am and 1pm. We hatched various different plans, before realising, we could get a train into Cinque Terre before 9am, and our day would not be too disrupted. We’ll see how that plan works out tomorrow …

After dropping our bags in our room, we headed out into late afternoon sunshine to explore the city. I was impressed, not a particularly touristy place, it has a big harbour and is a naval base, again the buildings were stylish, the avenues broad and tree-lined and the water front provided a pretty backdrop as we ambled along the harbourside. The city is fringed by mountains, felt fresh and looked a verdant green. I would happily explore a little more, but the charm of the five villages of Cinque Terre awaits ….