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Tuscany
  • Jen Ritchey
Apr – May 2025

Tuscany

A 24-day adventure by Jen Read more
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  • Jen RitcheyTravelerTuscany

    Pisa Part 2

    May 14 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    In our wanders we also found this tiny, fancy church! We were crossing the river at one point and I looked over and saw it and was like we need to go spy on that! It was so tiny compared to most churches, but still super fancy! Then we had lunch at this Thai restaurant which before we got there I didn’t have high hopes for cause I am usually disappointed over here when we try out Thai places, but this one was amazing! Just like we had in Thailand!! Plus everyone working there was Thai and other Thai people were eating there so that is always good. I love Thai food so that was very exciting. So exciting we will probably go back tomorrow! Pisa is only about 25min away so why not?

    After lunch we decided to go walk on the Pisa city walls! Now this was €5, but unlike that tiny tiny town it was 3km long so we decided to give it a go. It was really nice, though very hot with all the heat radiating up from the stones as it is in direct sun. It starts at the Jewish cemetery and the tower complex so that was fun to see from a little higher, then continued on from there. At one point there was a no photos sign and bars (probably to not take photos of the people living there), but I wanted a photo of the tower from there so you can’t tell me what to do! ;) The walls also went by some ancient thermal baths which was cool. We also saw one of the big stick things we saw in the fields around Volterra (with the big red circles) and I wonder if it is the same artist.    Read more

  • Jen RitcheyTravelerTuscany

    Pisa Part 3

    May 14 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    The walls were really fun to walk on, though after we left the big tower complex the amount of people dwindled until we were the only ones up there. It went by an old textile factory that is now a university (second photo) and the stairs to get up on the walls used to be a water tower to keep the pressures high in the factory pipes. That area was nice as it was a lot of outdoor space with lots of people hanging out.

    Next was this little pond looking place that used to be where gondolas transport things and people. We read that on the sign and it didn’t look like the archways in the water were big enough!

    When we finally got to the end of the wall walk we were both so hot, but wanted a sit so we sat in the shade by the wall…and it was still so hot there! So much heat radiating from the city wall!! So we set off to find some gelato and cool off…only we looked at a ton of places and no one had any good flavors! Until we finally found one - Vegan pistachio and pear, both were so good!

    Then it was a quick walk back through the city, a short stop to push over the tower amidst a bunch of tour groups, and then back to the car to head home. I really enjoyed Pisa and if we had more time I would have went in the cathedral and baptistery to see what they were like inside. Maybe tomorrow if we make it back for more Thai food! I’m still so surprised how much I enjoyed Pisa!

    After dinner we again went down to the beach to watch the sunset and the mountains were not covered in clouds tonight! So it was nice having a sits by the water.    Read more

  • Jen RitcheyTravelerTuscany

    Viareggio Part 1

    May 15 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    This morning we got up and went to explore Viareggio, where we are staying. We headed out to spy on some restaurants and found a market on the one street and wandered through that. Afterwards I was like everything felt cheap which was odd. Raymond said yes it did… it was like an open air thrift store, which after he said that I was like yes! Yes, it was!

    Then we wandered to a bakery to see if they had vegan treats, and they did! They were pretty tasty. Then through the park and we saw some Nutria swimming around! Then on to the far end of the promenade where Google said was the busy section and wandered back along the promenade. Man it wasn’t that hot yet, but the far end of the promenade was all whites stones and it was so hot walking on it! All the sun was reflected back at us and it was awful! Plus it was just private beach clubs. Though there were some fun sculptures.

    Then we got to the nicer part of the promenade with stores and restaurants (as well as the private beach clubs) and we found the main market! It went forever and was pretty nice wandering and spying. I even found a couple of table clothes as I don’t have any that fit my giant table. It was funny as I was looking at them everyone was like these are the huge ones are you sure that is what you want? And I was like Yes! I have a giant table! I do need the 3m ones!

    It took us longer to walk back than I expected because of the market, but it was a pretty fun morning. The town is not much except the promenade and beach, though the public beach is kind of far away. I think most people come and just have a beach day.    Read more

  • Jen RitcheyTravelerTuscany

    Pisa Take 2

    May 15 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    After wandering Viareggio this morning we headed off to Pisa for more Thai food for lunch! It was so good yesterday we wanted more! And we were pretty hungry so we ordered all the things. The same noodles as yesterday, but added this green bean and tofu in red curry that was also delicious! It was a lot, but we were hungry and it was so tasty! Then got a bit of gelato to share afterwards - chocolate and hazelnut, thought I couldn’t eat that much.

    Then wandering back to the car past the leaning tower we took lots of ridiculous photos! We kept walking and thinking of another thing to do…and after I did the hat thing a bunch of other people nearby saw and did it too! Raymond was like you started a trend! Some of these pictures are just hilarious! We had so much fun.

    Then it was off to run some errands before heading back to Viareggio.    Read more

  • Jen RitcheyTravelerTuscany

    Viareggio Part 2

    May 15 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    Once we got back to our place I looked to see where the public beach was…and it was a 40 min walk away! Or over an hour walk the other way! So then I looked for parking closer and there was parking by the beach so we headed out to spy. The public beach was pretty nice and you walked through some small sand dunes first. We got there later in the day and there was a strong, cool breeze right on the water so too cold to swim, but we put our feet in. I expected the water to be ice cubes, but it actually wasn’t that cold! If it was warmer out we definitely would have swan! Where we were was also very shallow out a long ways so that was fun.

    We hung out at the beach for a bit before it was time to head back to our place and get ready for dinner. This morning when looking I found a place that sounded good so we decided to try it out. They brought us a vegan cheese, chutney and bread to start which was pretty good. I was happy as I had wanted to try the cheeses, they had a vegan cheese board, but with the big lunch we weren’t super hungry and didn’t want to order too much. But I got to try one of them anyway! Then a cecina lasagna they called it with asparagus which was very savory and tasty. And we also got a sourdough pizza with tomatoes, escarole, and a different vegan cheese. The pizza was so good and made me think I wish we would have known about this place sooner as I would have gone back to try more things! I only found it today so…we do make tasty food for dinner ourselves, but still! So good! It was a good food day!

    Then a quick walk back to the beach for sunset. It was stormy in the mountains and you could see it was raining there, but still gorgeous here! The mountains seem to always get clouds in the afternoon/evening.

    Today was a great day, ate all the delicious things, got to hang out at the beach and explore the town, took all the fun photos, it was great. Tomorrow we start heading home (we are breaking it up into 3 short days instead of 2 long ones) and I will miss the beach!    Read more

  • Jen RitcheyTravelerTuscany

    Vaduz Liechtenstein

    May 16 in Switzerland ⋅ ☀️ 10 °C

    Today were packed up and started towards home. When I had looked to see the route home from where we were Google said the fastest way was through Switzerland on the border of Liechtenstein so I looked for places to stay and found one that looked nice in Balzers. We have never been to Liechtenstein so that would be a fun stop plus it should be gorgeous! The other way home would be the way we came down - through Austria so it would also be a nice to see something different.

    The drive was absolutely gorgeous! So much so Raymond was even paying attention and taking photos (he normally does not). The first two photos are from him from the drive. Giant snowy mountains and while the Austria drive is beautiful, I think this is better scenery! I loved it! We definitely need to do a Switzerland/Liechtenstein hiking trip!

    The third photo is the view from our room! We got here about 3:30, dropped our things off and headed out to explore the capital Vaduz. It was a pretty nice town and there was a summer festival going on with bands playing in the courtyard and mountains all around. We walked up to the castle where the prince lives and it was gorgeous. So much fun.

    I also learned that German is official language and there were info signs all over in German, English, and a third language that neither of us paid attention to so I don’t remember what it was. But the signs were not great info signs. Very boring.. I said it is more German here than Germany. In the one photo there is the Red House and you could scan a QR code to get more info which we did…The info was that the house was “built in 1338 and is called the red house because it is painted dark red. It has had several owners over the years. There is a square tower that is 4 stories tall and has a slightly bent pyramid roof. The first three floors facades are made of uncut natural stone while the fourth is plaster and has beveled tower corners. It has been owned by the Rheinberger family since 1807.” It just makes me laugh because it is like yup, that is what the house looks like. I thought there would be more about what it was or why it is important or anything, but no it is basically a description of the house. A lot of the info signs were like that and I laughed.

    After exploring town we headed back to our place to make some dinner. Vaduz was pretty nice and I definitely would recommend it as a stop if in the area. I would come back for sure!    Read more

  • Jen RitcheyTravelerTuscany

    Vaduz Art

    May 16 in Liechtenstein ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    Vaduz had so much art, especially sculptures, i thought I would make a separate post just for them. The town is not very big, but every two feet there was another sculpture! This isn’t all of them, only the ones I liked. The tall skinny rectangle with the hole in the middle - that was a fountain inside where the one side shot the water out in an arch to the other side. Raymond tried to take a panorama of it and I thought it was a fun photo. But everywhere you looked was art or a museum or something. It was it nice but wandering.Read more

  • Jen RitcheyTravelerTuscany

    Balzers Walk

    May 16 in Liechtenstein ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

    Just another quick post - after diner we went down to the river border between Switzerland and Liechtenstein and walked a bit. It was so nice! The water was a really nice color and the mountains were gorgeous and I don’t want to leave tomorrow! Such a great quick stop for us on our travels! We ended up walking way more today that I thought we would! It was like a normal day for the trip even though we drove so much! I have enjoyed this so much I would try and go this way again instead of through Austria if possible! So much fun!Read more

  • Jen RitcheyTravelerTuscany

    Bayreuth Part 1

    May 17 in Germany ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    Today we got up and headed on towards home. Not as long of a drive today which was nice. We are overnighting in Bayreuth, a town that looked nice on the map that was on our route home and that we had never been to before. It is a college town so lots of places to go drinking, but also lots of vegan food options! Too many! We had to make some difficult choices! We wandered the old town and found some cake for a treat - strawberry almond and a rhubarb crumble which was amazing! The town is not that big, but we had fun seeing what there was to see. We wandered out to the palace park and around which was really nice.Read more

  • Jen RitcheyTravelerTuscany

    Bayreuth Part 2

    May 17 in Germany ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    After the palace we wandered back through town and found all the fun art. It started getting cold and windy so we decided I order take out for dinner - tantanmen ramen (I realize the photo doesn’t have the broth as that was in a separate container), cucumber salad and edamame. It was delicious! Our place is right on the edge of the old town and we can hear the kids partying in town. The last photo is the view from our patio - the patio across from us is actually the patio for a burger place! They were open when we got here and people were eating outside so we could spy! But they are closed now, or at least the patio is, so no people watching.

    Overall Bayreuth is a nice little town. Perfect size for an afternoon wander.    Read more

  • Jen RitcheyTravelerTuscany

    Home Again

    May 18 in Germany ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    Yesterday we packed up, walked to the bakery to get some bread (and took another dino photo!) before heading home. I was expecting it to take forever to get home as the freeway going north into Berlin is closed (they need to repair the bridge) and so that will be a lot of traffic...only the directions took us through town instead and it was so quick and easy I thought I should always go that way! It was about the same amount of time as the other way normally takes as there is always a lot of traffic where two freeways combine, so next time I might try out this other way again. Even if it is slightly longer I prefer moving to just sitting in traffic.

    Our Tuscany trip was pretty nice overall. Tuscany is nice, but not either of our favorite places. We enjoyed our time, but it is not top on the list of places to go back to. I much prefer mountains which is why Elba and the last days were our favorite parts! Raymond was even like we will have to come back to this Northern Italy mountain area to explore, which I agree! I loved our hiking days in the Apuan Alps! So next Italy trip will definitely be a mountain adventure!    Read more

    Trip end
    May 18, 2025
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