Back in the US of A
Well, we finally arrived back in Hartford last night (around 11:30). Andrew came and picked us up, and Delta delivered all the bags and the flights were pretty good. To catch up on the last part of the trip:
After going over the pass between Switzerland and Italy, we drove back down into Aosta. The google map directions we had seemed to take us pretty far out of the way (all the way to Genoa and then down the coast to our destination in San Remo). Looking at the map, there was a direct north-south road from Torino, so we decided to take that. You can tell we have lived in 'flat' places, because we didn't realize that road went up and over the mountains that run along the Italian coast. So after lots of mountain roads in the morning, we ended up on even more. Back and forth, up and down. Pretty but one set of mountain roads too many.
We finally arrived in San Remo and checked into our hotel, which was very nice. We had dinner at a beachfront restaurant and called it a day.
The next morning we headed into San Remo, which was a bit more commercial than some of the other coastal towns we had been to. Did some shopping and looking around and then decided to spend some time just sitting on beach. One of those beaches where you rent some chairs and an umbrella and squeeze in with all the rest of the people -- not NC beaches. Beth did some snorkeling, and Alli and I rested. We had a nice dinner at a local place recommended by the hotel. Alli said it was the best steak she'd ever had, and even though it was pretty big, it all disappeared.
The next morning (Monday for those keeping track) we drove down the coast, through a little bit of France and into Monaco. Second smallest country in Europe (can you guess which is the smallest?), but lots of very expensive homes, apartments and hotels. It is really tucked between the coast and the mountains, and there are no straight flat roads in town. We spent quite a while at the Oceanographic Muesuem of Monaco, which had a great set of aquariums and exhibits.
We went for lunch on the way to the Palace of Monaco, and then took a little tour 'train' around town. We then moved the car from the Museum to the Casino (probably just a couple of kilometers down the coast, but with traffic, it took a while to get there). Beth went into the casino (Alli was too young) and doubled her money. Had we know, she would have taken more than five euro.
Around the casino are the really famous hotels and restaurants, and some amazing cars. Alli and I walked around taking pictures, and two guys in their Ferrari stopped and smiled for her to take a picture of them. We also saw the fastest production car in the world, the Bugatti Veyron. It would have cost more than a million euro. Dinner was at an outside restaurant - good but Monte Carlo priced. Then a quick drive back to San Remo.
The next morning we left San Remo and headed around the Italian coast, driving right along the sea. Genoa is a pretty big city, and we stopped there to see the Aquarium, which was even bigger than the one in Monaco. Some really nice exhibits, including a room full of hummingbirds flying all around. After lunch we headed down to our next hotel, in Rapallo. It was another really nice place (we were pretty lucky), right on the bay. We explored the town a little and had a nice dinner looking out on the mountains and the bay.
The next day we took the ferry that runs between the small towns near Rapallo to the 'famous' one called Portofino. Really small and very pretty, with a few really impressive yachts (not as many as Monaco, though). There was not much beach area in Portofino (or Rapallo) so we went to the town in between, San Margherita to see about spending some quiet time. But the beaches there were very small and did not seem to have places for snorkeling, so we decided to just explore the town and have a nice lunch.
On the morning ferry ride, the sea was choppy and the people in the front got very wet. Alli decided to ride there on the way back, but in the afternoon it was very calm, and she got back to Rapallo as dry as when we started. We did some more shopping around Rapallo and found a place that makes hand made lace -- an older guy who had taken over the business from his grandmother. He showed us all of his different products and how they are made -- Beth got a couple of things. Then some relaxing at the hotel and dinner at a seafood place. The waiter brought out some fish for us to pick from - we shared a sea bass and a breem (trout, we think). They were grilled and were great. Alli was not too happy that dinner had faces, but she put up with us.
Thursday morning we headed out of Rapallo towards our final hotel destination in Lucca. On the way we stopped in Sestri Levante to see if there was a beach for some snorkeling, but not really - again mostly a beach packed with chairs and umbrellas. So we headed down the coast, past the white marble mountains and stopped for lunch in Viareggio, a town that makes many of the yachts that cruise around the Mediterranean.
Lucca is an old (many of the buildings are from the 1200s and 1300s) walled town with pre-car roads. We sort of knew where our hotel was, but could not figure out how to get through the streets to where it was. Suddenly we were going up a road and ended up on the top of the wall! There was a road, but it was unlikely that we were supposed to be up there, so we started to immediately look for a way off. Luckily, the parking area we found just off the wall was very close to where our hotel was, and so we were able to drive right next to the hotel, and old palace with a very small hotel sign.
Parking was outside the wall, so I dropped the girls and the bags and was going quickly park the car and walk back, but everywhere I went the roads were either for pedestrians only, or looped right back to the hotel. I went around a few times, and two older Italians at a cafe I think started to recognize me as I went by multiple times. Then I saw this very small white "Uscita" sign - an exit!. Now I was on the road outside the wall, but the parking lot was not well marked, and so again, I drove around and around trying not to get lost. Finally found it and walked back into town and found Beth waiting to let me in. The hotel was upstairs and had only five rooms, but it was very nice.
The director of the program I teach for, Andreina, lives in Lucca with her husband Giovanni, and we called them and went over to their apartment for aperitifs. It is a great apartment - big rooms and high ceilings. They took us to a really nice restaurant for dinner and we had a wonderful time talking.
Friday morning, Andreina met us for a walking tour of Lucca and she knows so much about the history of the area. She left us for a nice buffet lunch at one of the 'local' places when she had to go for her appointments in the afternoon. We went to a couple of the places she recommended, and then rented bikes to ride around the top of the wall, around the city four times. It was great.
There was a free concert in town that night and so we had dinner near the concert (Alli had more rare steak - she really likes it that way now), and then walked over to the concert. A band with lots of percussion and very loud. We stayed for a while and then went back to the hotel to start packing.
Saturday morning, I moved the car closer to the hotel (but not too close to get trapped in the city) and we headed out to Pisa after breakfast. It was a pretty quick drive, and we got the rental car dropped off at Avis and got through the airport lines pretty quickly. Then a nice nine-hour flight back to the US.
We have lots of pictures, and I will start to process them and put up new posts with those, but I wanted to finish off the trip description and let everyone know we are back. The house looks great (Andrew did a great job taking care of everything) and Barkley was very happy to see us.
