Continuing along on our recent European trip: We left Pisa and decided to go over to the road that hugs the coast instead of driving on the autostrada. It took a bit longer to get where we were going, but hey we were on vacation!
You can click on any picture to enlarge it.
To give you an idea, we were along the western shore of Italy. I have circled Carrara, because we found it to be very interesting.
We had noticed the the tops of the mountains were white and looked like snow, but it was actually white Carrara marble being mined. There were huge blocks of marble on both sides of the road for miles. I have friends who have Carrara marble countertops and I suppose this is where it comes from.
There were also very pretty beaches along the way, and even in late Sept. people were still swimming.....and no that is not me.
For those that don't know, this map shows where the Cinque Terra is located. There are five small villages( notice red dots) that almost hanging off of the cliffs above the Mediaterrian Sea. Starting at the top with Monterosso and ending at the bottom with Riomaggiore. We chose instead to stay two nights in La Spezia at the bottom of the map, and slightly east. We had one person who had difficulty with stairs, plus we were in a car that is almost impossible to park very near the villages.
The hotel we stayed in was perfect. They had parking and it was directly across the street from the train station. There is a train that leaves La Spezia several times, all day long, and stops at all of the villages...the first one only taking six minutes.
I by the way adored the hotel and with it's old world charm.
The first thing we did was to walk across the street and purchase our 12 hour train pass that would take effect the next morning. For seniors the all day pass is only 13E, giving you on and off privileges. When we saw the long lines the next morning, we were so happy that we had gotten ours the night before.
Next I will show you a bit of the Cinque Terra.
Dearest Janey,
ReplyDeleteEven while living and working for almost one year in Italy, we never made it to Cinque Terre... but that was also due to working still 6 days a week and for vacation we always felt obliged to see family in The Netherlands.
Lovely photos and well explained too.
Hugs,
Mariette
I believe Michelangelo sculpted Carrera marble. It is beautiful. That sounds a great idea to base yourselves in a bigger town and use a train to get to the villages.
ReplyDeleteI learn so much from my blogging friends. Thank you, and and Rosemary too...I have learned something new today.
DeleteYes, Fun60 is correct - it was Carrera marble that Michelangelo used. Of Carrera marble he said "I saw an angel in the marble and carved until I set him free". It was also Carrera marble that he used to carve his famous David.
ReplyDeleteThe Cinque Terra is a lovely part of Italy.
The train is very good, it stops sometimes to have a photo of a view or a waterfall, you can get out and in again. I liked it very much. We were there in 2012.. I relive our travels with your journals!
ReplyDeleteI would love to do the Cinque Terra walk Janey, such a shame I would have to get on a plane to do so 😉 Think you chose a lovely hotel.
ReplyDeleteMagical!
ReplyDelete