San Remo, Italy . . . a flying visit

We stopped in San Remo overnight on our way down to the South of France for Taashi's birthday.  Pitched up in a Camping Village (which means expensive when translated) we got the bikes out and road along the boardwalk in to town past a Fair, market stalls, the San Remo Sailing Club and more.  Dodging locals walking on the bike path was fun (?) and discovering a whole lot of carparks filled with motorhomes free parking was annoying BUT we had a really enjoyable couple of hours taking in the local sights and watching the local people.

Riding into San Remo along the dedicated bike path.

Pitched up in the Camping Village.

The San Remo harbour.

Heading back to camp after a couple of hours riding.

The San Remo Fun Fair at dusk.

 

Lovely Levanto and a Happy New Year . . .

Levanto on the Cinque Terra coastline was everything we hoped and more.  From its quaint little town with fairy lights to Camping Aqua Dolce perched up on the hill overlooking the township and the ocean.  We walked to Monterosso along the cliffs, ate the best gelato in Europe so far and saw in the new year listening to the church bells peeling across the inlet.  Definitely a place we would return to Summer/Winter/Autumn or Spring.

Part of the Cinque Terra coastline that we walked.
Unfortunately the actual track between the 5 towns was officially
closed due to flood damage - but the walk to Monterosso (and the start
of the Cinque Terra walk) was just as beautiful.

The girls take a well deserved rest.

The half way point.

The views from the walk were breathtaking.

Best pizza ever - down on the boardwalk in Monterosso, with almost everything closed for winter,
Glenn found a restaurant willing to make us a couple of pizza's takeaway.
We got some envious looks from passers by as we devoured them.

Track closed signs.
Although many people just jumped under the safety tape and walked it anyway -
we weren't willing to do that with the girls

Looking down to Monterosso.

Upon arriving at Camping Aqua Dolce we were told they only had 1 spot left, it was the New Year weekend.
To get to it we had to get up this VERY steep hill.  The office didn't think we could do it, I didn't think we could do it.
Glenn thought he could do it - and he did.  (Although we left a bit of rubber behind as seen in the photo).
For his great effort and success the family that run the campground and an adjacent winery gave him a bottle of their red wine.  One of the nicest run camp grounds we have stayed in and highly recommended by us to all.

The view from our pitch at the VERY top of the VERY steep hill.
The church bells from this tower were incredible.

Happy New Year 2013 from Levanto Italy.

One section of the walk and cycle way heading up the coast from the north side of Levanto town.

The best gelato ever.

The girls outside the best gelato shop in Italy - according to us anyway.

The pretty main street of Levanto.

 

Verona, Pisa and Lucca . . .

Three little towns we wanted to visit were Verona (to see Juliet's balcony), Pisa (to climb the leaning tower) and Lucca (to try some of its famous licorice).  Being winter none of the camp grounds in any of these towns were open, so our visits were flying but well worth it.

Of all the places in Italy I had wanted to visit, Verona was at the top of my list.  I wanted to walk the cobbled streets that Juliet and Romeo supposedly walked.  I wanted to see her balcony and soak up the romance of it all.  Of all the places we have been so far, and there have been many, sadly this was the most disappointing and it shattered me. Expecting a quaint little town with romantic shops and cafes, cobbled streets and pretty lights, instead we were confronted with a big city, impersonal and generic shops, and an atmosphere far from being romantic.  The alley and archway leading through to Juliets balcony was covered in graffiti, chewing gum and rubbish.  As we entered the courtyard the graffiti continued, as too the chewing gum stuck to the walls and scribbled on.  To our left there was a tourist shop (directly opposite Juliet's balcony) selling tacky pencils and rulers with Romeo and Juliet on the top.  In front of us was a huge metal latticed gate with thousands of padlocks attached to it (the newest trend of leaving behind a little something is to write on a padlock and attach it to a bridge etc).  A security guard stood to the side yelling across the courtyard at people climbing the gate to attach thier locks.  Men stood in line to paw Juliet's right breast and have their photo taken whilst doing it.  It was horrible and not at all what we/ or I had expected.  We did find some little love letters tucked into a few of the cracks not graffitied or filled with chewing gum, which we had a look at and put back where we'd found them.  So some people like us still believe in the romance of it all.  Call me old fashioned but I would have liked to see Juliet's courtyard and balcony untouched from modern ways and still in keeping with the love story surrounding it.

The entrance to Verona - the prettiest part of the city.

Beautiful paintings adorned the buildings near Juliet's courtyard.

Under one of Italy's many huge Christmas trees.

The archway leading through to Juliet's balcony.

In the courtyard.

One of the love notes left for Juliet on the Christmas tree in the courtyard.

Juliet's balcony.

A couple of love letters we found folded up and popped into the cracks in the walls.

The graffiti and chewing gum adorning the walls - every square inch was covered.

Some notes still left tucked into the walls.

Juliet's statue - you can see where she has been pawed.

Shakespeare's famous quote.

Under the balcony.

On arriving in Pisa we parked alongside the river (where we saw another motorhome parked) and walked the couple of kms into town.  The skies where clear blue, the sun was shining and it was a beautiful day to be in Pisa.  We weren't the only ones who thought so, there were lots of people doing the same thing, and the atmosphere was one of happiness.  We all jostled for position to take the obligatory photo of holding up the tower and cameras were passed around between families and couples for group shots.  Careful about which attractions we visit (because the expense really starts to add up) we came to the conclusion that we couldn't miss climbing the tower itself and so we booked a time (which you have to do - only 25 people are allowed up the tower at one time) and we waited.  Once our alloted time came around, up we went.  It's really hard to climb the stairs, not because they are narrow but because they lean to one side and you start to feel a little woozy - but it was so much fun!  The tower was built as a bell tower for the town.  When they began construction they realized that the ground wasn't hard enough to support the tower and it started to sink.  The architect was fired and a new architect was brought in to fix the problem.  If you look at the tower closely you will notice that it is only the first 3 levels from the ground up that are crooked - the top 3 levels are actually straight.  It will be forever on a lean but it has been stabilized and is no longer sinking (although they monitor it daily).

Walking through the the historic part of Pisa.

Our first glimpse of the Leaning Tower and the magnificant buildings surrounding it.

Yes - it really does look like this.

Waiting to climb the hundreds of stairs to the top.

This shows you just how much the tower leans - outside is level.

The towers shadow from the top.

One of the bells at the top of the tower.

Inside the tower heading back down.

Glenn had read somewhere that the walled town of Lucca was famous for its licorice.  Being that we LOVE licorice we decided to go in search of some.  We walked through the wonderful back streets, past piazzas, an ice skating rink set up in the middle of one square for winter had locals skating round and round in circles, men rode bicycles dressed in their Saturday best including felt hats with feathers.  It was an eclectic town with interesting sights, but we couldn't find any licorice!  In the end we found a little stall set up down a back street.  We bought some red licorice with sherbet running right through the middle of it, ate it as we were walking and then went looking for some more.  It was delish!

The wall around the town of Lucca.

Ice skating in the middle of town.

One of the pretty shops.

The Italians out and about on a Saturday morning.

Getting stuck into Lucca licorice.