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Karen, am rather late to the party, but thanks for the spectacular pictures and descriptions, your planning and attention to detail has once again paid off! I was thinking of you when we saw the Last Supper and hoping you’d been able to get tickets. I’m sorry it didn’t work out, maybe on a subsequent trip.
Waiting for the further installments, thanks a bunch! |
Thanks Karen, for sharing this with us. Wonderful photos! The Cinque Terre photos bring back a lot of memories. We had 4 nights in Manarola years ago. Things have changed a lot since then, with fees, bookings, rules etc, but the villages are still spectacular.
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Thank you so much, everyone, for your compliments and taking the time to comment.
bilboburgler, thanks so much for the history surrounding the color yellow on the buildings. geetika, that's wonderful that you were able to see The Last Supper. When it was much too late to try again for tickets, it occurred to me that I should have tried for June 6 (a Friday), our last day in Milan and the day before we left for home. But at that time, I wasn't sure when we would reach Milan, although I could have tried for late afternoon. But it's probably just as well that I didn't because we were exhausted by that time, and sort of burnt out on sightseeing. Where else did you go on your trip? Happy 4th of July to all the Americans on the forum! |
Karen, What a wonderful, informative TR so full of great tips and leads. Your photos are amazing. And I’m awed by your meticulous planning of this long, multi-base trip. I haven’t been to the CT in years, and had shied away from thinking of going again given the crowds, amd so I especially appreciate your tips on making the most of this special place. Thank you and looking forward to continuing to follow along.
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Karen,
Your sunset views of Manarola are stunning! The Via dell"Amore pedestrian path looks so very different from when I took it before it closed! As yk notes, your explanation of the different types of travel passes and the wisdom of staying in a certified hotel are so valuable. I love the details. And...your enthusiasm for everything you experienced is infectious! (We'll be in Parma for 3 nights, with a day trip to Modena. Eagerly looking forward to your Bologna notes and photos!) |
Originally Posted by yk
(Post 17664302)
KarenWoo I'm enjoying this a lot, and appreciative of your tips! Cinque Terre has been on my wishlist for a long time but it seems daunting to plan how to visit. Thank you for explaining the different types of passes and the advantage of staying in the certified hotels. Not sure when we will end up going given we are limited by school vacation schedule for the foreseeable future :( Can't wait to read the rest.
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Thank you so much for the real low-down on visiting CT, the options, and of course the views at sunset. Makes me feel like I've gone to heaven.
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Your pictures are really good, KarenWoo. Looking forward to your next installment.
[Aside for yk: just FYI--there are other, less touristy spots to visit in Liguria that are as or more beautiful than the Cinque Terre. Someone as intrepid as you could probably easily plan a good trip to the area. I am a hiker and active traveler, and really enjoyed staying in Camogli (which has become more popular among non-Italian tourists lately, too, though not like the CT). https://girlsgottadrink.com/cinque-t...-destinations/ https://girlinflorence.com/2017/05/0...-cinque-terre/ I found some decent info on hikes on this site: https://www.apathtolunch.com/p/hikes.html ] |
Those sunset photos, wow (I recently talked my husband into a man bag too, best thing ever).
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Excellent report so far, and really looking forward to the rest. It’s very timely for me, as I just booked a 17 night trip for next May that covers a lot of the same ground. I have most of my accommodations booked, at least tentatively, but I’m still looking at tweaks, so information like access to the Via dell’Amore might cause me to make some changes (I’m currently booked at an apartment in Monterosso).
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Following along, Karen! I was looking forward to your report and will be taking notes about your stay in Milan. I will also stay in the same hotel in Milan this fall (had seen the recommendation from Progol).
Parma looks lovely! I had included Modena in my 2023 Italy trip but at the end had to cut from the itinerary. Gorgeous pictures! They illustrate so well your entertaining descriptions. Thanks for sharing! |
May 10 through May 12: Lovely Lucca and Pretty Pietrasanta
We hired 5Terre Transfers to drive us to the La Spezia train station because we didn’t want to deal with hauling our luggage on the CT Express to La Spezia. We had tickets for the Inter City train to Viareggio where we changed to the regional train to Lucca. I was a bit nervous at first about changing trains but this was very simple because the Viareggio train station is small. There are only 3 platforms, IIRC. We love our accommodations in Lucca, the elegant Hotel Palazzo Alexander. Our room was very large with a good-sized bathroom. The lobby is beautiful as is the breakfast room, and in addition to the traditional breakfast buffet, they offered eggs made to order with bacon. The location is excellent; we walked everywhere. We really, really like Lucca. It’s flat so every easy for walking. Lucca has over 100 churches; one of our favorites is San Michele in Foro that has an exceptionally tall façade. And Lucca is filled with many piazzas, large and small. The most impressive and largest is Piazza dell’Anfiteatro, which is located on the site of a second century Roman amphitheatre. Lucca is also one of the rare cities completely enclosed within 16th century and 17th century walls. And these ramparts are wide enough to hold tree-lined walkways not only for walking but for bike riding. You can rent 4-passenger bikes. We visited the Botanical Gardens located just below the walls. I wouldn’t describe them as stunning, at least not when we were there because there weren’t that many flowers in bloom. But it’s a peaceful oasis with lots of shade and a lily pond. And while there we heard beautiful Italian music coming from either somewhere in the gardens or along the walls. Another interesting place to visit is Palazzo Pflanner. This Palazzo was built in 1660 and underwent some changes and additions throughout the years, including building the grand staircase. It has an interesting history because it once was a brewery from 1846 to 1929. There are beautiful gardens complete with a fountain, statues, and lemon trees. We purchased admission tickets for only the gardens but you can tour the palazzo as well. A highlight of our visit to Lucca (well, there were two, actually) is attending the Puccini concert at Chiesa San Giovanni. This was awesome!! The opera composer, Giacomo Puccini, was born in Lucca in 1858. The city of Lucca now honors Puccini with a year round festival. We were there on a Sunday, and every Sunday the program is “Puccini and the Traditional Neapolitan Songs.” One of the songs is “Funiculi Funicula” by L. Denza, and this was amazing! I didn’t know the song was written to commemorate the first funicular on Mt. Vesuvius. Anyways, the tenore did an amazing job. The audience loved it; people were tapping their toes, and the applause was deafening. It was obvious the singer was really touched; he was almost in tears. Now, in retrospect, I wish we had attended more concerts on this trip. We videotaped part of the concert but I haven’t been able to upload our videos on Fodors. Two years ago our youngest daughter and her family spent 3 weeks in Lucca. They rented an apartment near a restaurant called Trattoria Nonna Clara, and they ate their quite frequently. Two of the waitstaff, Olivia and Ricardo, befriended them and were very kind to them. They bought gifts for my grandchildren. So my grandkids made a thank you card for Olivia and Ricardo. We ate there twice. We had lunch there on the day we arrived. I asked our waitress if Olivia was working that day, and it turns out that Olivia was our waitress! She and Ricardo remember our daughter and her family, and they showed us the thank you card! They keep it displayed in the restaurant! They were such nice people and the food was very, very good, so we returned there our last night for dinner, too. This was a very meaningful highlight for us. Our first night in Lucca we had dinner reservations at Osteria San Giorgio. We shared gnocchi; Ed ordered a white fish dinner; I ordered lamb chops; and we shared a very delicious sliced pear, brie cheese, walnut and honey appetizer. We enjoyed all of our meals, and I highly recommend this restaurant. Another night we dined at Bastian Contrario. We shared tagliatelle with sausage, mushroom, and truffles, and we also shared sliced beef with truffles for our first courses. Ed had wild boar stew with truffles for his main, and I had cod with polenta and a red sauce. As I’m writing this, I can’t believe we ordered all meat centric and truffle centric meals. 😊 We’ve never had truffles before, and now we discovered we don’t like truffles. We stayed away from them for the rest of the trip. At Trattoria Nona Clara, we shared a salad; I ordered lasagna and Ed had baked lamb and potatoes. Unfortunately, he was disappointed in the lamb, but our huge salad and my lasagna were delicious. On our second full day in Lucca, we picked up our rental car and drove to the lovely town of Pietrasanta. This town is well-known for its sculptures and statues with a Human Connection theme, which will be apparent when you see the photos. After leaving Pietrasanta, we drove over the mountains to the town of Barga, which our daughter recommended. It’s not on the tourist trail. We had a quick lunch, but we weren’t impressed with the neighborhood where we parked, so we decided to leave. However, after crossing the bridge, we ended up in a very pretty and interesting part of Braga, but unfortunately we couldn’t find any place to park so we left for Lucca. This does look like a lovely town that would be nice to spend more time in and get away from the tourist crowds. If you do rent a car while in Lucca, there are carparks just outside the walls. |
Thank you Karen, following along. What a wonderful (and enviously long) trip.
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Our spacious room at Hotel Palazzo Alexander in Lucca https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...88c95c4fc.jpeg Our elegant and spacious bathroom https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...1832baa65.jpeg The view from our hotel room in Lucca https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...26c90ec99.jpeg The elegant breakfast room https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...9c3e82d08.jpeg And another view of the breakfast room https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...8ce99dac3.jpeg Trattoria Nona Clara https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...aaa419b76.jpeg A photo of me with Ricardo and Olivia from Trattoria Nona Clara. They are the two very nice wait staff who befriended our daughter and her family. https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...76967d9b7.jpeg The thank you note from our grandchildren that Olivia and Ricardo display in the restaurant. https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...969c09815.jpeg My very tasty ravioli that I had at Nona Clara for lunch. Some of the best ravioli I've ever had. https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...8d0682afb.jpeg Ed ordered pasta with chestnuts for lunch. https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...f8fc8908f.jpeg And we shared this delicious dessert! https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...f1377bf7b.jpeg Entrance to Piazza dell'Anfiteatro https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...53de13ccb.jpeg Gateway to Piazza dell'Anfiteatro https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...6343090f4.jpeg Piazza dell'Anfiteatro - the largest piazza in Lucca - occupies the site of a 2nd century Roman amphitheatre https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...421f33ee8.jpeg Piazza dell'Anfiteatro https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...7d1c54678.jpeg Beautiful interior of Cattedrale di San Martino (Duomo) - dedicated to St. Martin https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...ebaeab974.jpeg Close up view https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...3ce744c4d.jpeg The Last Supper painting by Tintoretto https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...5708986e1.jpeg The top of the ramparts that completely surround Lucca https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...cbc4b3cf2.jpeg A view of the countryside from the Lucca walls. https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...f93f694ee.jpeg The beautiful San Michele in Foro with its exceptionally tall facade. https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...381ff2976.jpeg Beautiful angel https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...38e9b1d17.jpeg The interior of San Michele in Foro https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...711691b7d.jpeg Close-up view of the altar |
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The beautiful gardens of the Palazzo Pflanner https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...fb0452601.jpeg Palazzo Pflanner https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...258e217c4.jpeg Taken from the Grand Staircase https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...00c12c917.jpeg Lemon trees in the gardens of the Palazzo Pflanner https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...aa1b9f8a4.jpeg The lovely town of Pietrasanta with its Human Connection sculptures https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...56998d47e.jpeg Pietrasanta https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...31fdb35bd.jpeg Another view of Pietrasanta https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...9731e80ec.jpeg Another interesting sculpture https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...7fda065f0.jpeg .....and another one https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...f3bb8a0cf.jpeg . . . . . and another one! https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...65106289b.jpeg Main piazza in Pietrasanta https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...9d1a2b13d.jpeg Pretty restaurant in Pietrasanta https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...729952af8.jpeg I love the architecture and colors https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...810e72ec6.jpeg Our pear and brie cheese appetizer at Osteria San Giorgio in Lucca https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...2245555fc.jpeg Ed's fish dinner https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...cb444bce8.jpeg and my lamb chops https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...7d01cc2b6.jpeg Bastian Contrario in Lucca https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...9a781daa3.jpeg Our dinner at Bastian Contrario - Ed's wild boar stew https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...226f9ca8d.jpeg sliced beef with truffles https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...6348e089f.jpeg and our tagliatelle with sausage, mushroom and truffles - after this meal we decided we don't like truffles! |
I love your family connection story with that trattoria.
It was a blisteringly hot day when I did a daytrip to Lucca and I thought it charming, but a walk in that garden would have been a wonderful addition if I’d known about it. |
Following along and thoroughly enjoying your trip report.
We have visited many of the areas you are writing about but somehow never Tuscany … so it’s on our list! Really enjoying reliving the ones we have been to and seeing them through your lovely writing style and photos. It’s bringing back many memories. |
Enjoying your report—after watching all your planning it is nice to see the results. (I stayed in Parma three nights and had a wonderful time!)
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Following along. We will be in Italy in late September. I was thinking of visiting Lucca as a day trip from Florence, but not sure whether it would be too much as a day trip.
Really enjoying your photos. Thanks for sharing. |
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