One year ago exactly, we were enjoying our final full day in beautiful Northern Italia. Instead, today we are at home, craving a plane ride to a new destination and digesting the news that the President has COVID-19. What a difference a year makes!
Enough of that. Back to Italy…
Our last day was an adventure! We were not supposed to be going to the coast. It was a decision we made halfway through our trip – to cancel our 2nd night in Bologna and head west – and it was the best decision ever! I still dream about our last sunset in Italy…
Wednesday, October 2, 2019
The drive from Bologna to Florence was the hilly Italian drive I had always pictured but hadn’t really seen yet on our trip. It was scheduled to be a rainy day, but didn’t start until we were leaving, so we were blessed with beautiful clouds before the rain/hail!
Florence
Fun fact: 15 years ago, I had my purse stolen in Florence. I was a college kid – didn’t really know better – and had everything in it. Passport, cash, credit cards, everything. That caused me and a friend a lot of trouble and our entire day in Florence was spent at the US Embassy getting new passports for the rest of our trip.
Ever since then I’d had negative thoughts when Florence would come up in conversation. This time I had way more fun and my bad experience in college isn’t the first thing I think of anymore!
We parked outside of the ZTL at a little lot – I believe it was at the corner of Viale della Giovine Italia and Via dell’Agnolo, but please double check to ensure you don’t get caught in the ZTL. It was a decent walk to central Florence, but we enjoyed it.
Early Lunch @ all’Antico Vinaio (5/5)
Some friends of ours had visited Florence just a few days ahead of us and recommended we get a sandwich at this spot. While they had waited in line a bit, we got there early and beat the line! I did hear the line moves quickly, and I would expect it to: you need to be ready to order since they move fast!
We ordered “The Boss” – with Tuscan Prosciutto, Pecorino Cheese & Truffle Cream for €5. It was absolutely delicious, although very rich. An excellent quick stop!
Starbene Gluten Free Gold (5/5)
Via dei Neri 13 50122 Florence, Firenze
We randomly noticed this bakery as we were walking down the street towards central Florence and I was ecstatic! An entire bakery full and I can eat ANY of it?! I got a cream puff-like dessert and carried it along for later, because who doesn’t want dessert in the morning?
Ponte Vecchio and Palazzo Vecchio
The typical tourist stops. Don’t buy anything on the bridge – everything is extremely overpriced! We did grab a new pair of shoes at Superga in the Piazza, though…
Parrocchia di Santa Lucia
Florence to Pisa is a short drive and is pretty much a turning point towards where we were headed up the coast. On our way, we stopped in a town that I saw had a winery, hoping to view the landscape and sip some wine. Unfortunately after a lot of turnarounds, we found out the entire area was shut down for the day. No wine.
It was beautiful, though, so we explored the area a bit and found Parrocchia di Santa Lucia – a church on the hill. It had the most beautiful view of the valley.
Pisa
While I am not well-versed on the town, I don’t believe there’s all that much else to do there except the Torre de Pisa and the surrounding grounds.
Pisa Tower Parking
Via Andrea Pisano 17 56122 Pisa, Province of Pisa https://g.page/TowerParking?share
Most of the blogs I read beforehand advised that Pisa is full of theft, and since we had all of our luggage in the car, we wanted to find a guarded parking lot. There were lots of recommendations for this lot, and our experience was good. Cost was €1,50/hour and we stayed about that long. They also have bathrooms inside the lot, which was convenient before we headed up the coast.
I’ve been to Pisa before, but didn’t remember it much. The Square of Miracles is inside the walls and had the greenest grass I’ve ever seen! While some areas were off limits, there were plenty of people enjoying the sunshine on a picnic blanket in the grass.
The rest of us tourists in the square were taking the silly leaning tower photos that you just can’t resist! This guy wanted to push it over instead of hold it up…
Cinque Terre
As I mentioned earlier, we had not originally planned to go to Cinque Terre, but changed our minds about halfway through our trip. So, we did some reworking with our hotel plans and made it happen. And we were both SO glad we did! It was truly a perfect way to end our time in Italy.
We learned that we couldn’t really drive into the Cinque Terre cities (plus it would have taken longer), so we opted for the train. There are also boats from La Spezia, but they also take longer and are more expensive. Probably beautiful, though! The train was super convenient, quick, and reasonably priced at €4 per person per trip.
Park Centre Stazione
Piazzetta Ancona, 7 19122 La Spezia, SP
We parked at La Spezia’s “Park Centro Stazione” lot at La Spezia Centrale railway station. It’s outside the ZTL, too, so you don’t have to worry about that. Parking Rate was €1,50 per hour, which wasn’t terrible. We read ahead of time that it’s often full and you have to wait until people leave, but we had no problems. Drove in and parked right away. Maybe the day of the week, maybe the time of the year? We had also read about nearby street parking with pink signs that you use an app to pay for. This was our backup plan.
Train tickets can be purchased on little kiosks at the main entrance of the station (just upstairs from the parking lot). There are also people to help if you have questions/trouble, which was nice. We paid with credit card a the kiosk.
Note that you need to validate your ticket before you board the train and then your ticket is valid for 75 minutes from the time of validation. From what I read online ahead of time, you can get really hefty fines if your ticket is checked and you didn’t validate. Ours was never checked, but we did validate!
We took the train from La Spezia Centrale to Manarola, which is about a 10-12 minute ride. You can use Google maps and the transit option to see the details of the times.
On the way back from Manarola, we booked the train to La Spezia Centrale, but we got off at Riomaggiore, which is about a 1-2 minute ride, to sit by the water and watch the sunset (AMAZING!). Then we got back on the train within the 75 minute time window and traveled back to Manarola. *Please note that I’m not sure if this is allowed, since the rate is per trip, but we had no issues. Maybe ask the helper before trying? I’m also not sure what the fine would be if it’s not allowed and they catch you.
Manarola
At Manarola, we walked down, following the crowd, and took the little path around to the right. I found the best view to be up on the second “level” of the path towards the park. This is the famous/classic view of Cinque Terre that you see in photos everywhere. It’s so beautiful!! We also went down towards the water and sat overlooking it near the ropes. There were several people swimming in the little bay, which we may have done had we been prepared with bathing suits, but we were not. Too bad!
La Scogliera, Manarola (2.5/5)
We ate dinner at a restaurant called La Scogliera along the main restaurant strip. Not recommended. We got the caprese salad, seafood soup, and fried calamari as well as an Aperol Spritz. The caprese didn’t have fresh basil (dried powdered basil) and the tomatoes weren’t as sweet as we were used to in Italy, so the flavor was subpar. The seafood soup was decent, but nothing special. The calamari was pretty good, but didn’t make up for the rest. None of it was inexpensive, so it wasn’t worth it.
Random fact: the bathroom had a window that showed the rock that the restaurant was up against. Cool? Not sure.
Gelateria 5 Terre, Manarola (4.5/5)
For dessert, we went to Gelateria 5 Terre – which is a fully gluten free gelato shop on the main pathway to the water, not far from La Scogliera. The shop is so serious about maintaining an allergy-free environment that they don’t even allow you to eat anything that is not gluten free within the Gelateria.
They serve waffle cones and cups, gelato, cannolis, crepes, smoothies and more! Their gelato is lactose free, and they have Vegan and sugar free options as well. We got a large waffle cup with 3 flavors to share – Almond, Coffee and Lemon cream. They were all really good! I’m sort of regretting not trying a crepe, but I was so full already…
We brought our gelato down to the water and sat for a long time wave-watching and chatting.
*Photo of gelato not available due to heavy consumption prior to the thought of a photo, which made the actual photo of the gelato pretty unrecognizable.
Riomaggiore
At the Riomaggiore stop, we again followed the crowd down the stairs and toward the ocean. What a beautiful view! There were walkways on both sides that went around the cliff bends for different views.
We grabbed a 3-pack of Aperol Spritz mini-bottles from a little convenience store before the bay (about €8) and headed to the walkway on the left side (if you’re facing the water). If you go up the stairs and then curve around to the left, there is another set of stairs (on the right) that goes down to a little rocky area. We found a nice spot to sit, opened our drinks, and enjoyed the sunset for the next half hour. Then, took the train back to La Spezia. It was so, so perfect!
Hotel Continental Genoa (4/5)
This was a last minute booking just a few days beforehand. We had picked it because it was not too far from Cinque Terre and yet allowed us to be closer to the airport for the next morning’s flight.
Again, as I mentioned our anniversary in the reservation, we were lucky enough to get a free upgrade to an executive suite. We also had a bottle of rosé on ice and a complimentary bottle of water. Parking was 25 euros! But, they park it for you and bring it back when you need it. When we checked in, they offered us a “discounted rate” of €10/person for breakfast if we booked at check in vs. €12/person if you decide later. We didn’t end up getting it, but she told us it was an American breakfast buffet.
The elevator is ancient! It honestly felt a bit like we were in the Tower of Terror elevator… cool, but super difficult to manually open & close two spring loaded doors at the same time while pulling two big suitcases and carrying a bunch of other things.
The room’s view of the train station square was nice, although you could only see it with the window/doors open and looking that way. The bathroom was very large with a nice tub & rain shower. The bed/pillows rivaled the Savhotel, Bologna for most comfortable on our trip, which was nice on our final night for our tired and sore bodies (we are seriously getting old!). I think I preferred this hotel’s bedding while hubby preferred Savhotel.
Some Greek Place (3.5/5)
After we got settled in the hotel, we ventured out for a late night snack at one of the few places that was still open. And by ventured, I mean we climbed what felt like thousands of stairs, thinking the little restaurant we were hunting was “just around the next corner.”
False. There was no Greek restaurant open late just around the next corner. Eventually we gave up and went back down all the stairs to the main road. Then, we found the restaurant about 30 feet from where we had turned up the hill. Sigh.
The place was decent, nothing to write home about. But we were extra hungry after all that effort! Wish I remembered the name or had a photo of the food. I think I was just too tired.
Thursday, October 3
Breakfast @ Illy at the train station, Genoa
Since we hadn’t purchased the hotel’s breakfast, we walked across the way to the train station for our daily cappuccinos. It’s crazy how much you can enjoy at a chain coffee shop in a train station, just because it’s Italy. We were very happy with our little breakfast!
Heading Home
The drive from Genoa to MXP was about 2 hours. Some friends that used to live in the Genoa area suggested we take the route through Novara instead of going through Milan. They said that while the Milan route is shorter in distance, and about 5-10 minutes shorter in time if everything goes well, one accident can really screw up traffic and make you late to the airport. Therefore, we took the Novara route. We really didn’t hit much traffic at all and had no issues arriving on time to the airport. We did feel like we were on a back road at one point after pulling off to get gas.
The flight out of MXP to LHR started over the Swiss Alps, where it had just snowed. It was beautiful to watch out the window! I am pretty sure I spotted Matterhorn…
We also had our last Spritz… Goodbye Italy!
Although I’ve written a lot of them, I also feel like there are no words to describe how wonderful our trip was. Maybe part of that is because we’ve been without a trip since November of 2019. I can’t remember the last time I didn’t have a flight, a road trip, an adventure of some sort to a new place in an entire year – even as a kid!
I’m not sure we’ll be going anywhere the rest of 2020, but we do have some hopeful plans for 2021: Taiwan and Croatia.
I hope that you’ve enjoyed following along on our tour of Northern Italy and that I’ve inspired you to plan something wonderful once we can all travel safely again!
Until my next post…stay safe, stay healthy, and stay hopeful for the future!
XO,
J
