It seems such a long time since our previous update from Cinque Terre. We have seen so many interesting things in the intervening 10 days that it has become blurry. This update has been delayed a couple of days due to internet problems and for the same reason there are no photos this time.

After leaving Cinque Terre we drove for only about 1.5 hours to Lucca where we had booked into a small hotel only a few minutes walk from the old city centre. The old city was inhabited by Etruscans before Roman times and is surrounded by a huge earthen and brick wall built by the Romans and reinforced by Napolean 1500 years later. The old town is flat and easy to walk in, with narrow streets, 3 – 4 storey buildings occupied mainly by locals because the hotels are mainly out of the city centre, and of course, shops and restaurants. We climbed 230 steps to see a great view of the city. It is a great place for a few days and we used it as a base to visit Florence and Pisa.

Pisa is less than 30 minutes by train from Lucca and from the station in Pisa to the Leaning Tower is only a 20 minute walk, but the walk took us 3 hours. On the way we did lots of window shopping, people watching and eating lunch. We took a guided walking tour of the Miracles Square, including the duomo and the Tower – the duomo was closed because the archbishop decided to conduct mass and we chose not to climb the 290 steps to the top of the Tower because the view would be similar to that from the tower in Lucca.

Florence was a 90 minute bus ride from Lucca finishing within a 15 minute walk of the first guided tour; Accademia, where we saw the statue of David which was pretty good, and the Duomo which also was interesting. During the tour rain started and kept falling for about 4 hours, the first rain we have had for almost 2 weeks – so we had to make a drastic change to our plans and instead of eating outside we ate inside. Then we had a 3 hour guided tour of the Ufizzi museum and the Vassari Coridor, both huge art galleries. We were the only group in the Vassari gallery but the other 3 places that we visited had millions of people, or so it felt. By the end of the day we had had enough of tourists and back at Lucca we were exhausted after a 17 hour day.

Following a few days of busy towns we drove to Volterra a small mountain-top village only 70 km (1.5 hours) away. It took 2 hours to find the hotel – tiny streets, one way streets that our GPS didn’t know about, squeezing between cars with our mirrors folded away, then having to reverse out because our little Peugeot doesn’t like going down steep steps, phoning the hotel but not being able to understand the Italian instructions. Eventually we arrived at our tiny hotel to find it was really nice and right in the heart of the old town. Volterra was inhabited as long ago as 5000 years and there is a very good museum of Bronze Age and Iron Age artefacts. We stayed a couple of nights and loved Volterra. There were certainly tourists but not many and before 10:00 and after 4:00 we and the locals and the few tourists who stayed overnight in a handful of small hotels had the place to ourselves.

Yesterday we drove the 4 hour trip to Mondavio, near the Adriatic Coast on the eastern side of Italy – except it took 6 hours because we drive slower than the locals (speed limits are treated as minimum speeds). After trying in vain to find the address of the local contact person, her brother found us and escorted us about 10 km out of town to a nice cottage in the middle of farms. We have no close neighbours and it is very peaceful. We found a supermarket a few km away and have stocked the fridge and wine cabinet so we couldn’t ask for more. Tomorrow our Dutch friends Eddie and Tineke will arrive and we look forward to spending a few days with them, 20 years since we met them on a camping trip from Alice Springs.

We should mention the food; it is wonderful. We have had lots of varieties of pasta, pizza, gnocchi, cheeses, breads, pastries and of course, gelato. We’ve eaten seafoods, meats and sauces of many kinds and loved them all. Sometimes we have eaten in tiny pizzerias on the side of a street or in a small piazza and often in lovely restaurants, both indoors and outdoors. And, in case you are wondering, the wine is great too.

That’s all for now (did somebody say “about time”). We are both well and hope you are too.

Love from Ted and Jo

Hi again.

After leaving home last Saturday 12 September we travelled for 24 hours and landed in Milan Malpensa airport ready for some fun in Italy – then spent an hour and a half on a queue to go through passport control.  Never mind, customs checking was non-existent and the car hire process was fast and painless so we were soon on our way.  In our brand new Peugeot 208 with its easy to use GPS we drove  65 km through narrow, winding roads (in 2 hours) to our hotel at Lezzeno on the shores of beautiful Lake Como.  Words can’t describe how beautiful this 100 km x 2 km lake is – and we had a room almost right beside the lake with a great view.

Hotel Villa Aurora is small and the rooms are tiny, as with most traditional hotels in Europe.  The staff were very friendly and most, not all, could speak very good English.  We ate breakfast in the main building but dinner was in the hotel’s restaurant across the road.  Staff had to carry meals across the road from the kitchen to the restaurant, even in the rain.  We did have some rain while we were there but it didn’t bother us.  We would happily stay here again, especially with a lake view room.

Ferries operate all over the lake, with a stop near the hotel, so we took a ride to 3 towns then to the famous town of Bellagio where we enjoyed a pleasant few hours.

From our room on Lake Como

From a ferry on Lake Como – many beautiful mansions as well as the small villages

Our dining room at Lake Como

After 3 nights we started off again for the 3.5 hour, 320 km drive to Cinque Terre – it took 7 hours because we chose the shortest route rather than the fastest route.  The first 80 km took more than 2 hours, then we found ourselves in the middle of Milan – Oops!  Getting through Milan took anothe 1.5 hours so we changes our minds and took the fastest route for the remaining 240 km, using 2 freeways were we sat in the slow lane doing 110 km.  The final 20 km was along another narrow road, high above the Mediterranean Sea with spectacular scenery, to the tiny village of Volastra, near Manarola.

Our hotel is Luna di Marzo, more like a B&B, with only 11 rooms.  We stayed here in 2012 and really enjoyed it.  The village has about 4 B&B’s, 2 small restaurants and a small mini- market.  The view from our room and the hotel terrace is amazing and the food in the restaurants is wonderful.  We have walked and taken the train to other villages and general enjoyed this very interesting region which is famous for its 5 towns that are joined by walking trails.  Unfortunately a couple of trails have been closed for repairs since heavy rain in 2011 but we have still found plenty to do.  Of course great food, wine and coffee help, along with good company from like-minded travellers.

Corniglia, one of the 5 main Cinque Terre towns

Enjoying one of several walking trails

From our room in Volastra

That’s all for now.  Hope everyone is well, as we are.

Love from Ted and Jo