ITALY .. ti piace l’Italia?
Translated it means “do you like Italy? What’s not to like? Bella Italia!!
My sister Marilyn, youngest brother Andrew, oldest brother Peter, Robert and me. This photo taken one month before Rob died, 27th January 2005
It was a sad day when my second eldest brother died, but weirdly the weekend before when we had a family get together and we were saying goodbye, I said to myself “I will see you and hug you again”. Then a day or so later I mentioned to my husband that I thought Rob was a bit different on Sunday. Two days later on returning home from town my husband gave me the shattering news, my first response was “I told you didn’t I?”
Of course I did see him again, together with other family members when we said our final farewell at the funeral home before his funeral a few days later.
Rob always wanted to go to Italy but didn’t get around to having holidays very often, being too busy managing the farm. He had bought a new case for his planned trip to Italy, so when it came time to sort through his things I decided to take the case, with the comment, “I’m taking this to Italy!”
Good morning and welcome to my travel journals once again, I hope you enjoy my reminiscences about Italy, such a beautiful country.
Nine months after my brother died, with the itinerary planned together with fabulous assistance from Como Travel, South Yarra, we flew out of Melbourne for six weeks travelling around Italy.
When I was doing all the research, particularly with accommodation, I had to bear in mind that we were meeting up with friends for the last two weeks, so accommodation had to be agreed upon by all of us. There were a couple of places that the agent said were better than what I had chosen, and she would know far better than me, being Italian and having travelled to Italy numerous times. 10/10, we were all happy with the results.
For the life of me I don’t know why I didn’t write a journal for this trip, but thankfully I still remember pretty much everything of our time away, and due to downloading all the photos onto CD’s I have all the photos, and thanks to Google, if I have a query about something, it will tell me I’m sure.
You wouldn’t believe it, but after completing this post and looking for other paperwork I came across the journal I had written during our time in Italy. Only one note was different, so my memory isn’t too bad after all.
We arrived at Pisa airport in the morning and after collecting our hire car we proceeded to our accommodation. Thankfully my husband had driven several times in the US so for him it wasn’t so bad, but for me!!!
The first thing that happened was that as we were driving out of the airport another visitor to Italy came driving towards us in the wrong lane, then at the first roundabout we nearly did the same thing. The locals must have been used to tourists as no one tooted us. Phew!!
The road to where our hotel was, was rather narrow, and I kept saying, don’t drive so close to the edge of the road, the trees were right on the edge of the verge, so as the passenger they felt a bit too close for comfort. Nevertheless we arrived safely as my husband wanted to live also…
I checked to see if I could find a photo of our accommodation at San Giuliano, the Hotel Granduca, it seemed to be missing from my photos, and it has now closed permanently. It really wasn’t in good condition when we were there, but our room was comfortable and we were not far from a great little, and I do mean little Pizzaria. The food was great and the staff were just lovely and very happy to have their photos taken.
We didn’t explore San Giuliano Ferme, but took the opportunity of driving to la Spezia and catching a train to Cinque Terre. We only visited one town which was Varnazza, we wandered down to the township but it was soooo busy we just grabbed a panini then had a brief look around, from there we walked to Corniglia and had also planned to do the Lovers Walk, but once again it was closed. Where we did walk you need a certain amount of fitness due to it not being a flat walking trail, so bear that in mind if you ever plan to visit. The scenery is absolutely stunning. It would be fabulous to spend a few days there to explore all of the towns, although as I mentioned, it can get pretty crowded.
On the way back from la Spezia instead of going on the main road we took the circuitous route, coming through Carrara, how spectacular was that! The mountains where they carve out the marble look like they are covered in snow.
The next day we drove to Lucca, oh my, I loved that place. The winding streets, great little shops, one in which I bought some cute Christmas decorations (unfortunately that shop is no longer there as we checked the next time we visited). We found the information centre in a delightful courtyard setting, then wandered off to the Lucca Cathedral which is in Piazza Antelminelli, and then to Piazza dell’Anfiteatro being the elliptical shape of a Roman Amphitheatre and is surrounded by buildings, it is referred to as a square in the description on the web, (a bit of an oxymoron, considering it is round lol). We climbed up the Torre Guinigi which was built in the 14th Century and is the only surviving tower of the many that were the features of this old city. We walked around the wall, and got into trouble due to going through a doorway which was not allowed, apparently unbeknown to us it was a school.
After a couple of days well spent we headed for Santa Margherita, which is in the area known as Liguria. Our accommodation was just off the main street and up a slight slope, I seem to remember it being a deep pink in colour. After settling in we went for a walk and came across a market, unfortunately it was preparing to close, but luck had it that the lady selling jeans was still happy for me to have a look. Flares were in then, as were embellishments, being on the back pockets and down the seams. I didn’t get to try them on, but thankfully they fitted perfectly and I had them for years, pretty good since they only cost €8.
Portofino was on the list to visit, and what a windy road that was to travel, but well worth it. Absolutely gorgeous, and how about those boats, or I probably should be referring to them as yachts. One had enough room at the stern to fit a small motor boat, just perfect to take out for a day fishing. Such a change from taking a motor home on holiday with a trailer on the back for your small SUV, although these days with the size of some of them there wouldn’t be much difference in price.
As well as looking around the village we walked around the path to the opposite side of the cove and found some amazing views across the bay as well as a fabulous pink mansion. I don’t know the story about it but I will endeavour to find out. Remember what I said about checking with Google?
Gosh, I just found out that the villa was built in built in 1678 and was used by the Marquis Durazzo as a Summer residence. Not a bad weekender…
Of course we dined out every night and as it was one evening, the restaurant we wanted to go to was booked out so chose another venue. Whilst sitting at our table I overheard a couple speaking Italian with an Australian accent. Not one to stand back I spoke to them, and during our conversation it was one of those six degrees of separation moments when I found out that the lady was the sister of a girl I went to school with, and as it turned out, she also knew one of my best friends who came from the same town, Port Fairy, which is in Victoria, Australia, and to top it off they just happened to be friends with one of our neighbours at Rhyll on Phillip Island!
It was subsequently found that they had planned to go to the same restaurant we had chosen that night, so plans were made to dine together the following evening.
Next week we will be heading to Verona, once again by a circuitous route, but definitely not planned!
Until then, when I hope you once again Come Away with Me.
Bye for now.
Sally 🤗
Looks and sounds wonderful. So sad your brother didn’t get to visit Italy though. Lovely that his bag went with you though .
Sally, thanks for sharing this. But perhaps my favorite part of this is: “It was subsequently found that they had planned to go to the same restaurant we had chosen that night, so plans were made to dine together the following evening.” To me, this is the ultimate goal of adventure—to meet like minded people and dine together. 🙌🏼