Day 32 - Lucca then to Cinque Terre

Today we are leaving Speedo man, the mozzies and his dirty hotel that doesn’t change towels when you put them on the floor, just folds them back up and leaves them for you on a chair near the door, like they are new towels… can’t wait to write that review.

We found some better roads to depart and head for Lucca, we found a cafe along the way that I figured out how to ask for take away cappuccino and got some nice breads for lunch for us.

On the way to Lucca we went the toll route - the Autostrada - The T-Cross doesn’t like 130km per hour so I stuck to 115km or 120km when needing to weave around trucks. It was a dream driving on the Autostrada and was a relaxing time compared to the small roads & blind bends we have had!

We got to Lucca and got a park inside the city walls, we were amazed and considered us lucky. We walked around and so far the regret is we didn’t spend a night or two here. Quiet and picturesque.
Lucca is a city on the Serchio river. It’s known for the well-preserved Renaissance walls encircling its historic city center and its cobblestone streets. Broad, tree-lined pathways along the tops of these massive 16th- and 17th-century ramparts are popular for strolling and cycling. Casa di Puccini, where the great opera composer was born, is now a house museum. We opted after our walk of Lucca, and the big trouble of the day - Katie trying to decide whether a leather bag she fell in love with should be brought or not (the shop shut at 1pm unfortunately) that lunch was to be had under one of the trees on the path.

We jumped back into the car and headed to Cinque Terra region, I decided that we would drive from the south to Vernazza instead of what google maps suggested of coming in from the North quicker. I soon found out why it suggested the North. 30 minutes from the car park location we got onto roads that only fitted our car but again was two way. Italians don’t give way and they also have no courtesy when driving. So Katie got out her pretend pedals and helped me with the drive. Thankfully she did as we had a couple of vehicles coming up she could see, as I was too busy staring straight ahead as she scanned further on.

We made it to the car park, they had my name at the top of the bookings as this was a loose operation and never emailed me back. We got into the van that drove us the rest of the way as it;s residence and taxi only area.
We checked in and had to climb to our room - fourth floor, 60 steps and steep! Made it to the room and we opted for a walk around town. I kinda had an idea of where I wanted to end up and would you have it, we ended up directly in front of a bar called the Deck.Well when on Holiday a Rose and Spritz is always calling. The deck has an amazing view out and we enjoyed the spot very much.

We got some breakfast supplies to put in the fridge and headed back to the room. Dinner was super easy but so delicious. We got some burgers from Hambu, I got the Octopus burger and vanilla Katie got Classico, bless her. We sat by the water with some drinks from the bar enjoying the view.

After dinner we went and found some vantage points for views and to watch the sunset. Coming back down we went to get Gelato, after yesterday it still doesn’t count!
We are currently deciding on a sunset boat cruise and how our two days here will look, with visiting the other villages.Read more