Geneva Here We Come

Northern Italy
October 16th - 19th


As we left Calvi we worked our way north making a few pit stops. Our friend Ryan had spent a semester in Italy and he told us to check out Sienna. Being on our way, we pulled up to the city wall and put a few euros in the meter and took in the sites. The plaza is famous for the ancient horse races. A University is located within the city limits making this a very cool college town. Anyone who wants to do a semester or year abroad should check out Sienna. A perfect spot to have our last piece of pizza.

Next stop Firenze. With our great timing we reached downtown at rush hour. Having entered the city from the opposite end of where we picked up our friend Steve, we did not have the aid of the stazione signs. Thankfully Nick had a detailed map of the city and he guided Roby to the train station perfectly. Once we dropped Nick and Hayley off we headed to Fiesole, a small hillside “suburb” of Firenze, to revisit our favorite place from our honeymoon trip. Our goal was to find the restaurant where we shared and enjoyed the best meal we have ever eaten. It was going to be so fitting because our anniversary was coming up within a week- our present to each other. As we neared the town center we started salivating because we were going to have some of the best eggplant ever known. But to our horror Fiesole was no longer the one horse town we remembered but a thriving tourist Mecca. I experienced what Chrissy Hines described when she wrote “No More Ohio”. So many new buildings, homes and shops had been erected since our visit in 1997, we had difficulty finding our restaurant. I got weary and sick to my stomach when I realized I was not going to re-live my favorite meal because our restaurant had been converted into an art school. Distraught and disappointed I told Roby we had to go-it was no longer my Fiesole!!!

Not having much of a plan anymore we drove northward in silence trying to overcome our disappointment. I pulled out the map looking for a town to stop for the night. Not knowing one from the other we chose Lucca. It was written in larger letters leading us to believe hotels would be available. As we exited the Autostrade the town was nothing special until we reached the centro area. Jackpot! Lucca was a medieval walled city with a modern flair. Located just two hours north of Firenze close to the mountains Lucca was the ideal town. The walled city, although catering to some tourism, still maintained its small town personality. Our frown turned upside down immediately. Now all we had to do was find some good food and I would forget about my eggplant dinner. Based on our hotel manager’s suggestion we went to a local’s bistro. Located in a small renovated house in a back alley aptly called a plaza, the owners provided a warm and homey environment. Roby had a great Osso Bucco dinner served Luccian style with tomato sauce and I had a calamari dinner.

Having arrived late in the evening the lighting was not very good for photographing; therefore we decided to spend a good part of the next day in town. After a chocolate croissant at the famous local bakery next to our hotel, we walked over to the walled section of town near the Santa Maria entrance. As we crossed the arch we found the stone stairway up to the grassed pathway which encircled the town. It was an elevated park on top of the wall giving you a different perspective of the city. Everyone used it to jog, walk their dogs or just visit. We looked at each other and jinxed each other when we said-we could live here. We spent the next hour walking along the path photographing the history and architecture. At the junction we headed down into town and walked along the canal enjoying our last tour of the city. We grabbed a few things at the market for lunch to take with us on our ride toward Cinque Terre. As we strolled back through the Santa Maria entrance to our car, the smile returned to our faces. “Finding Lucca” was our salvation!!!!

Our last major stop was the Cinque Terre area on the northern Mediterranean coast. With a similar geography as the Almalfi Coast in southern Italy, the Cinque Terre provides you with breathtaking views and unfathomable architecture. The best part is the drive is nowhere near as dangerous. The road sports lanes built for the average sized vehicle. You can actually enjoy the view. The Cinque Terre is five small towns linked by the railroad or one continuous hiking trail. One can walk from town to town in about four hours along either a coastal path or a hillside trail. We did not have enough time to complete the entire hike but we did a few small sections allowing us to get some incredible photos while perched above the villages. Maintaining its old world charm and restriction of automobiles into the towns, the Cinque Terre area is not spoiled by its tourism as much as the Amalfi coast. Designated a World Heritage Site, Cinque Terre has quite a bit of protected wilderness areas. The terraced vineyards and farms dot the steep hillside with nothing hampering the incredible views. Being a bit more primitive, hotels do not line the main roadway like along the Amalfi coast. Because we had sworn off booking a hotel in advance, we were just going to wing it. As we navigated our way we took a turn toward the town of Monterosso. We parked the car and headed into town. When we came upon the “hotel district”-three hotels- a lady sitting in a chair on the sidewalk selling “local wine” overheard us talking about finding a room. In her broken English she slyly asked us if we needed a place to stay. A bit surprised by her forwardness, we reluctantly said yes. She pointed to the opening in the building and said she had a room. Knowing that the hotels in the area were quite expensive we asked how much the room rental was. She said 80 euros which was 25 euros less than the hotels. She took us up the stairs and showed us a spare room in a two bedroom apartment. No one else was staying in the unit so we had it to ourselves. Accommodations solved.

Once settled in our room, we took a stroll along the coastline path. As sunset arrived we took up at a sidewalk cafe and enjoyed our last Italian beer, watched our last Italian sunset and ate our last Italian gelato.

We got up a bit late the next morning, packed our bags; left the key in the door as instructed and headed out. As an added bonus when we were departing, the European Porsche Club was coming into town and we got a show of over 80 Porsche 911’s streaming along the windy roadway.

Passing through Aosta, our last Italian town, we reached the border, looked back with a tear in our eye, and said our final goodbyes.