Homeward Bound - Day 11

 Up early as Kelly headed down to make coffee. I jumped in the shower and finished packing my stuff up while she had her shower. 

 Hugh awoke from his slumber and we departed the Villa at 8 a.m. sharp for the Firenze Airport.  We drove through Lucca and hit the Autostada eastbound for the fastest route possible.

We arrived at 09:18 and Hugh & Simone took us into the terminal and we said our goodbyes there. We then headed upstairs to the counter to drop our bags. Unfortunately the machines that print our baggage tags were all not working so we went over to the bag drop area. It turns out the baggage system was having an issue and we had to go to the main counter. This had a large lineup and we waited a bit but it was really not moving. I told Kelly that at this rate we would never make it. She headed over to the priority lane and told the agent about our flight. She took us right away and we had our bags checked in shortly thereafter.  Off to security and then ran the gauntlet through duty free.  Made it! Ha! 

We went downstairs to the boarding gates and waited to board our bus that takes us out to the plane. Onto the bus and in my E195 seat at 11:21. 

 

Those engines are huge!! 

 

The trip was uneventful and we soon found ourselves at the Schiphol airport in Amsterdam. We transferred over to our departure gate for the B777 KLM flight to YVR. It was mostly smooth for the duration. Plenty of food was served. Row 38 :-( We did manage to get our ArriveCan app going and had the Advanced CBSA Declaration completed before we lost internet access.... worked great!

On arrival into Vancouver we cleared customs & immigration and went on to our next flight over to YYJ (Victoria). Hoofed it through the terminal and through security once again.  We loaded up the Westjet Encore Q400 and flew to Victoria.

Grabbed our bags (yes they also arrived with us!) and our Uber driver Kris was there  to take us home.

In the door at 18:44.

 

Things we liked:

1) No Tipping

2) Easy Park app... made paying for parking a breeze! 

3) BBQ

4) Berra Moretti  :-) 

5) Small Villages with mountain top views!! 

6) Our Villa

7) All the restaurants we ate at :-)   

A big Thank You to Hugh and Simone for inviting us along on this trip... We had a blast!  Till next time Ciao!

Lucca Part 3 - Day 10

A lazy morning at the Villa as we drank coffee and talked about family and life events.  Great conversation and we are all fortunate to have reasonably good health, allowing us to enjoy life to the fullest.  

Kelly had passed along my boarding passes for our flights to Victoria tomorrow... a sure sign that the holiday was ending!

Hugh & Simone finished up some building business and we decided to head back into the walled city of Lucca and do some additional exploring. We have probably only seen about 20% of the inner city itself and want to check out some of the things we have missed. Talk of a bike ride for all of us around the top part is a possibility. 

We headed off and eventually found a parking spot near the previous bike store. We know this area pretty well by now! Kelly had the parking app going and it was quickly paid.  Love technology when it works :-) 

We walked into the city and with rain forecast for later in the day, we elected to go for a bike ride around the wall of the city. This was not just any ride... we rented a 4 person pedal bike for an hour. It was my first driving experience this trip and we managed to safely navigate the entire wall without any trouble. We also made a couple stops for a geocache along the way. It was a lot of fun!

It took us about 45 minutes to pedal around the entire city and it was pretty stress free as we enjoyed the perfect temperature of 20°C with virtually no wind. We dropped off the pedal bike and asked the attendant where the best place to eat within the walled city was? He was quick to point out that Buca di Sant'Antonio was "the" place to eat.

 Off we went in the general direction with Kelly bopping in and out of several shops along the way.  She spotted a neat little electric Fiat in her colors! They still look goofy to me.

 She picked up a few items then joined up with us at the restaurant's entrance.  Hugh and Simone had already been seated downstairs but we soon caught up with them.  The overall ambience was very nice and the food did not disappoint, although Hugh's cod was overcooked. He regretted not sending it back... as it should have been perfect. Afterwards the waiter chatted about all the royalty and celebrities that have dined at the restaurant over the years... being as the place opened in 1782 I suspect there have been plenty!!!

 

Dessert!

 We had a leisurely lunch and then walked around the town to work off the food. Simone wanted to revisit the tower with the trees (Torre De Palazzo Guinigi). We thought about hiking up to the top but decided against it. The rains that we saw on the radar had dissipated and it remained a nice day.

 

Just a door to an apartment complex!

Hard to believe but there are no less that 27 churches within the walls of the city. Next we walked towards the Cathedrale di S Martino and took a look inside.  It is a great piece of history, both inside and out. Following are the pictures I took as we approached and entered the building.

Pipe organ!

We came out amazed at the quality of the displays and the condition of the building.  Even the building next door looked fantastic. Italy did not disappoint us!

 We headed towards the car and then the Villa for the last time on this trip to Italy. A quick stop at the gas station for some diesel to ensure no issues in the morning. 

Back at the Villa we relaxed with a bit of blogging as Kelly headed upstairs to start the packing process... luckily her bags were still half packed from the trip here :-) Once she was done, it was time for some crib. 

Simone had taken up position on the couch and watched some horror show and  we could hear screams intermittently from the living room! Hugh skunked Kelly right off the bat and the second game, although closer, went to Hugh again. He is on a two day roll... and clearly loving it! :-) 

Dinner was cancelled because we were all stuffed from lunch. We did snack on some crackers, cheese & other leftover items in the fridge. I headed up to pack my bags and had that done in under 10 minutes time.  

Kelly decided that crib was out so we had a game of Five Crowns... which Hugh narrowly beat me by 7 points! Arghh  Looks like this will be continued next year with the Inaugural Pacific Old Boys Club Crib Off & Five Crowns Championship! 

I finished up the blog and then headed up to bed... remembering to set my alarm for an early get up. We plan to leave by 8 a.m. tomorrow morning and should be at the Florence airport around 9 or so. 

Out for a drive.. Camiore and beyond - Day 10

 Slept in until 8:20 then it was time to hit the shower. We decided, once again, to give Elena the morning off and do our own breakfast today in order to use up some of the fridge contents. Kelly and Simone played barista and we soon enjoyed a nice cup of coffee/espresso before breakfast.

Hugh is our head chef this morning and eggs are on the menu. (amongst other items of course). Kelly was baking up some fresh croissants as well. No one starved!

The weather has turned and it has been raining off and on since yesterday late afternoon. We have had both light and heavy rains come through during the night with the odd bit of blue sky this morning.  We gathered around the kitchen table and came up with a plan to just do what Kelly and Agnes do on trips abroad... just drive around and see the sights... no destination... just go. 

We loaded up the car and off we went, simply following our gut feeling. Our path took us towards Camiore where we followed one of the  roads up the hill.  

View from a pullout.

They slowly got narrower until they were really just a single lane. Hugh felt he had reached his "limit" and we turned around and headed back down. We stopped at the Badia di San Pietro church and took some pictures and toured through the cemetery for a few moments. Generations of families lie buried/entombed here.

Next up I randomly picked a spot across the town and up another hilltop called Pedona. The windy road took us up to the very top and we quickly found a parking spot. We walked out to the furthest point and enjoyed the views looking out towards Le Spezia. 

 

Pedona

Great views!

On the way back to the car, we stopped and enjoyed a cappuccino at Il Giorno which featured a nice view of the town of Camiore down below. It was closed for dinner but there were a few locals enjoying coffee so we joined in.

We wound our way down the hill, stopping to enjoy the views along the way. Our route took us back towards Massarosa so we made a quick stop at Conad for some "special supplies" :-) 

  We then traveled back towards the Villa with a stop at the Catholic Church at Chiesa di San Pantaleone in Pieve a Elici. We had been by this particular church numerous times but finally decided to get a closer look. 

We continued up the hill and made a quick stop at Gualdo where we managed to grab a geocache and check out the neat little restaurant beside the church.  Very impressive! 

The small building on the right is the restaurant.

We wound our way down the hill and made a stop at the Monumento ai caduti di guerra to get a better view. We believe it's to honor fallen soldiers during the war. There was also a hidden bunker located behind it that you could not see from the road.  

Bunker

Back at the Villa, we had some snacks and I braved the pool as the sun made a sudden entrance and the temps soared a couple degrees :-)  It was very refreshing.

Elena arrived to prepare dinner and I started up the fire... it was an unusual struggle but it finally caught. Kelly clearly enjoyed the warmth that it provided.

Dinner tonight was Ossobuco with mushroom risotto & Crostata di frutta for desert.... I'm totally stuffed!

Hugh & Simone had a bit of business to take care of with the building in Langley but once that was done he decided to beat me at a game of crib. He took on Kelly next and beat her as well... sheesh he was on a roll tonight!

Tomorrow is our last full day in Italy before we return home on Friday. We will make a plan in the morning. Off to bed.

Viareggio - Day 8

 A nice sleep in today as we have given Elena the day off. Hugh said he was making breakfast but he's still in bed. We will survive!  Lots of leftovers in the fridge so it's a good opportunity to clean that up. 

Some chat about a visit to Sienna which is a 2 hour drive or perhaps a 30 minute trip to Viareggio on the coast.  

After some back & forth on a destination, we decided on Viareggio as it is shorter and our day was half gone by this time.  We headed off and in 30 minutes we were parked along the boardwalk on the main pedestrian area. It has a row of top notch hotels along it's eastern edge and restaurants, high end shops and beach clubs along the western side. 

Road on right then bike path, greenery, walking path & stores & beach clubs

 The beach clubs were associated with the hotels across the way and provided food, beverage and lounging areas for guests as well as beach access. As it was late in the season, there was not a lot of activity that we observed, not like the two cruise ships that unloaded in La Spezia yesterday. (with everyone heading to the Cinque Terre!!)

We walked along a section in front of the Grand Hotel Royal and then the Principe di Piemonte. These buildings both displayed interesting architecture along with the many hotels along the main walkway. 

Hugh chose the "Casablanca" for some lunch and it too, was very good. A nice break for us as we put in a few steps on the ped counter :-) 

Temperature was in the low 20's and shorts would have been the right choice.... for some of us :-)

We decided to head back to the Villa with thoughts of some possible pool time. The drive back was fairly quick and we soon arrived just after three p.m. The clouds had rolled in so the pool idea, although inviting, was a bit on the cool side. 

We relaxed with some reading & blogging and then I made up a snack tray because we haven't eaten enough today!

Rain had started so it's time to think about a small fire inside... just to take the chill off and give us that cozy feel in the kitchen area.

A game of Five Crowns broke out and I easily lost both games with Hugh & Kelly each winning a game. Sheesh.  Dinner was leftovers from the previous evenings dinners and it was all very good. A nice mix of everything we could find in the fridge.

Although it was a late dinner, we finished off with a Facetime with my mom in St Albert, AB. 

We all searched the map for possible destinations for tomorrows "adventures" Not sure what we are going to do but the weather is forecast to be very wet. 

Off to the rack again!

Cinque Terre - Day 7

Up early to shower and prep for yet another day of adventures in Italy! Breakfast was served at 8:30 am and it was tasty once again. Our goal is to take Hugh and Simone to the Cinque Terre on the west coast of Italy. We visited it back in 2016 when we had cruised the Mediterranean.  A quick route check and train info search on the laptop and we were on our way north.

It was just over an hour of driving to the coastal town of La Spezia and the central train station. Of course the train's parking lot was full so we went around the block a few turns and Hugh spotted an empty spot.... and we quickly grabbed it.  Kelly had the parking app going and after some google translate we had the parking all paid for. A short walk to the train station and we joined the line to get tickets (and fortunately we stayed together as we needed I.D. for everyone.) We basically got a day pass for the coast with unlimited stops between the towns... unsure if we will hit all of them.

Off to Monterosso first for a look around and then work our way south.  We strolled the beach area and enjoyed the views. There are lots of people here compared to the last time we visited. Lots! I managed to get a geocache and then we stopped for lunch at Lapo S. It was extremely good! Temperatures were around 22° C and we erred in not wearing our shorts... oh well.

 

 

Back on the train, our next stop was at Vernazza and we walked down the main street to the end of the breakwater. Lovely spot to watch the activities.  It too was crowded.

Panorama

Off to the next stop of Manarola where we endured long lineups of people just trying to get off the station platform. All the towns were very busy with lots of tourist like us.  We made it down to the view point and watch the folks swimming amongst the rocks.  It looked refreshing!

We had some gelato and then headed up to grab the train home... in true Porter luck, the train arrived just as we did! Perfect timing! On to the train for the 11 minute ride to La Spezia.

 

We quickly found our way out of the station and on route to the car. Unfortunately Hugh took a tumble on some uneven pavement and went down.  We helped him up but he has some soreness in his ribs... hopefully just bruised.  We will see.

 

We made our way out of town and back onto the autostrada heading south past the huge marble quarry. A quick pit stop at the Conad (chain store like Thriftys) to grab dinner and we arrived home at the Villa 18:15.

 

I got the fire going as we needed to burn down the wood to achieve some nice hot coals. In the meantime Hugh suffered several losses at crib and then so did Kelly... she was not happy with my last hand. Hey what can I say... the cards were in my favor tonight!

Nana not happy!

 

For our dinner, we had stakes cooked over hot coals, fresh sage potatoes, mushrooms and a nice salad. It was all very good.

 

Yes they tasted as good as they looked!!

 

We all pushed away from the table and readied for TV for some, netflix for others and blogging for one poor soul. Oh well all good.  Tomorrow is a question mark... we will see how Hugh is feeling and then plan accordingly.  I'll go through the blog posts and correct some spelling errors and other bits. Ciao for now.