We left The Palace Hotel relatively early to get an early start. This is probably our favorite hotel so far. Its heyday was probably some time ago, and looks like a five star hotel that’s slowly become a 3 star hotel (it has lots of custom monogrammed items), but had a really good feel and no complaints except the creaky floors.
With the aid of the GPS (and sometimes in spite of it) we managed to get out of Bologna and headed southwest to Lucca. We’re finding that the GPS cannot be relied on alone – it made 2 rather inconvenient mistakes today which cost us a fair bit of time. On the way, we passed large storage areas of Carrara marble near Massa - aparently it's quarried near here. A couple of hours later we arrived in Lucca. Because it’s a walled city, we parked outside and walked in through one of a number of passages into the town. We only had a short time, so after a bite to eat and a coffee we explored the town. Frances had her first ginseng coffee and, given her enthusiasm for the taste, it may not be the last. There were quite a lot of tourists which was a bit annoying as it made it difficult to photograph anything without them cluttering up the frame. Although the temperature was in the mid 20s, it got quite hot in the sun, so after a couple of hours we headed off to La Spezia on the coast – the base for our visit to the 5 villages on the rocky coast called Cinque Terre.
After another bungle by the GPS (we suspect the data is a bit out of date) we eventually arrived in La Spezia. The approached looked very industrial, and it wasn't till we were at the corso along the port that some of its character was evident. The size of the main buildings points to its history as a major trading port. Hot, tired and grumpy, we found the hotel we’d booked the day before and headed for the room and a refreshing shower.
Refreshed, we headed out to select a restaurant for dinner. Within a short time the selection process became a desperate search for anywhere to eat that was open and not a bar/café. We’d only had a small lunch. We found a pizza restaurant La Pia where we had an excellent dinner. Details now follow:
For entrée we had lightly pickled button mushrooms (funghi) and artichokes (carciofi). We then had 2 pizzettas as a main course, one 'marinara' which was mostly a very tasty (and non acidic) tomaoto base with very small pieces of seafood – subtle but very good. The second was a 'richiesta con mozzarella di bufala'. It had Italian sausage (salsiccia), buffalo mozzarella and a very leafy vegetable that is part of the broccoli family with its own taste – delicious.
We also had generous glasses of house red and white, which was served in tumblers – it reminded us of the old No-Names restaurant in Stanley Street, Darlinghurst.
For dessert we decided to share their specialty dessert called castagnaccio con ricotta. This is a slightly sweet chestnut based tart (I think they used sultanas for sweetening) topped with fresh ricotta - really fantastic. The whole lot only cost 22 Euros (compared with 50 Euros for dinner the night before in Bologna).
On our way out I asked what a thin yellow pancake looking thing was. They said it was farinata and gave me a piece to taste – well this was another taste sensation. I’ve since found that it is a sort of thin, unleavened pancake or crêpe of chickpea flour founded in Genoa and has became a typical food of the Ligurian Sea coast, from Nice to Pisa.
What was interesting during this time, say from around 6pm to 8pm, is that the main streets and piazzas (pedestrian only) were filled with people making their passeggiata. This is a gentle stroll through the main streets of the old town.
Italians tend to dress up for passeggiata, and tourists like us, with our comfortable clothes and walking shoes really stand out - we felt like a couple of dags! Older folks sit along in bars & cafes, nursing a beer or a glass of wine, snack on the buffet, and gossip about what's happened in the past week. La passeggiata is where new romances are formed or displayed as well as new shoes, clothes and accessories. Tomorrow night we're going out prepared!
Some pics to follow when we have time.
With the aid of the GPS (and sometimes in spite of it) we managed to get out of Bologna and headed southwest to Lucca. We’re finding that the GPS cannot be relied on alone – it made 2 rather inconvenient mistakes today which cost us a fair bit of time. On the way, we passed large storage areas of Carrara marble near Massa - aparently it's quarried near here. A couple of hours later we arrived in Lucca. Because it’s a walled city, we parked outside and walked in through one of a number of passages into the town. We only had a short time, so after a bite to eat and a coffee we explored the town. Frances had her first ginseng coffee and, given her enthusiasm for the taste, it may not be the last. There were quite a lot of tourists which was a bit annoying as it made it difficult to photograph anything without them cluttering up the frame. Although the temperature was in the mid 20s, it got quite hot in the sun, so after a couple of hours we headed off to La Spezia on the coast – the base for our visit to the 5 villages on the rocky coast called Cinque Terre.
After another bungle by the GPS (we suspect the data is a bit out of date) we eventually arrived in La Spezia. The approached looked very industrial, and it wasn't till we were at the corso along the port that some of its character was evident. The size of the main buildings points to its history as a major trading port. Hot, tired and grumpy, we found the hotel we’d booked the day before and headed for the room and a refreshing shower.
Refreshed, we headed out to select a restaurant for dinner. Within a short time the selection process became a desperate search for anywhere to eat that was open and not a bar/café. We’d only had a small lunch. We found a pizza restaurant La Pia where we had an excellent dinner. Details now follow:
For entrée we had lightly pickled button mushrooms (funghi) and artichokes (carciofi). We then had 2 pizzettas as a main course, one 'marinara' which was mostly a very tasty (and non acidic) tomaoto base with very small pieces of seafood – subtle but very good. The second was a 'richiesta con mozzarella di bufala'. It had Italian sausage (salsiccia), buffalo mozzarella and a very leafy vegetable that is part of the broccoli family with its own taste – delicious.
We also had generous glasses of house red and white, which was served in tumblers – it reminded us of the old No-Names restaurant in Stanley Street, Darlinghurst.
For dessert we decided to share their specialty dessert called castagnaccio con ricotta. This is a slightly sweet chestnut based tart (I think they used sultanas for sweetening) topped with fresh ricotta - really fantastic. The whole lot only cost 22 Euros (compared with 50 Euros for dinner the night before in Bologna).
On our way out I asked what a thin yellow pancake looking thing was. They said it was farinata and gave me a piece to taste – well this was another taste sensation. I’ve since found that it is a sort of thin, unleavened pancake or crêpe of chickpea flour founded in Genoa and has became a typical food of the Ligurian Sea coast, from Nice to Pisa.
What was interesting during this time, say from around 6pm to 8pm, is that the main streets and piazzas (pedestrian only) were filled with people making their passeggiata. This is a gentle stroll through the main streets of the old town.Italians tend to dress up for passeggiata, and tourists like us, with our comfortable clothes and walking shoes really stand out - we felt like a couple of dags! Older folks sit along in bars & cafes, nursing a beer or a glass of wine, snack on the buffet, and gossip about what's happened in the past week. La passeggiata is where new romances are formed or displayed as well as new shoes, clothes and accessories. Tomorrow night we're going out prepared!
Some pics to follow when we have time.
