Thursday 14th Sept
Our accommodation for the next three nights was at the 4* Grand Hotel Royal in Viareggio and it definitely deserved that rating and maybe even more. Grand was a most apt inclusion in the name as that is exactly what we experienced from the moment we stepped across the threshold. Our room wasn’t huge but, luckily for me, Hotel policy dictated that Dagwood would have to stay downstairs in a storage room so it was plenty big enough for the two of us. Our room was sumptuously appointed though and had a balcony, with a table and chairs, and the most splendid view out to the ocean and up and down this long stretch of coastline. What was quite astonishing though was the huge expanse of private beach clubs consuming almost every bit of available sand, as far as the eye could see, both north and south; it was staggering. Apparently the coastline of beach here is around 10 km in length but the entire length of this strip of coast, from the port just to our south up to Marina Di Carrara, is around 35 km in length and most of this is taken up by beach clubs!
We eventually managed to draw ourselves away from the view to head downstairs in search of some lunch. The Hotel had a large pool and garden area and there was dining available there from midday till 3 pm so that that worked well for us. The outdoor setting of the hotel was what had attracted me to this particular Hotel in the first place and it did not disappoint. The sense of space and expanse of green garden and large pool had a most calming impact and I was very glad to be spending three days here rather than still being in Sestri Levante. I did feel a bit sad though as we approached the pool and I saw two games tables, table tennis and foosball, where I know Tom would’ve loved to spend time and have multiple challenges with his father. It was just a pity that I hadn’t chosen this area, and this hotel, for our coastal Italian stay in my initial planning. The following few hours were spent relaxing around the pool as it was too hot to go exploring.
I used some time by the pool to map out the next two days and a dinner option for tonight. We planned to visit Lucca tomorrow morning and have the afternoon by the pool or beach and then Pisa the next morning with more pool or beach time after that. Our Hotel was fully booked for dinner tonight so the Concierge suggested an option, Casablanca, that was just a 3 minute walk away and that is what we chose. We gave the bar area of our hotel a try before dinner and this was a pleasant experience and made more so because of the abundant ‘snakes’ on offer. We didn’t dwell there too long though as we were keen to explore the beachfront area of this coastline. We strolled up and down a bit either side of our Hotel and were rather surprised by the number of high end retail shops and boutiques lining the promenade in front of all the beach clubs. Some of the prices were eye-wateringly staggering and we wondered who the customers were that came here to shop. Our lovely waitress at dinner informed us that folk from Florence and Bologna come here in droves, and especially at weekends, so that made a bit of sense. We then thought we’d better lock in a dinner reservation for Saturday night ASAP. Our meal at Casablanca was quite nice, and I greatly enjoyed the cloth napkins, so we may return! After dinner we headed back to our room for some time on the balcony before bed. This place was just what I wanted at this winding down stage of the trip.
Fri 15th Sept: half-day trip to Lucca
The forecast was for another glorious day so Mark set off at sunrise for a bike ride and I headed out shortly after for a walk along the promenade. It was fairly busy despite the early hour.
Our plan for the day was to visit Lucca in the morning and spend the afternoon by the pool. It was a 45 minute drive to Lucc as Mark opted for the backroads route thinking it would be more scenic. The only thing that proved to be was more stressful with lots of traffic and rather blind pedestrian crossings where we were caught, unawares several times. It was at this point that I reminded Mark that I am not embarking on any more driving holidays. We will see how long that holds.
It was around 11 am by the time we got to Lucca and our first stop was off at the tourist information office to get a copy of tourist map. The only walking tour available in English was at 2 pm, which was too late for us, so in the absence of any audio guides, we used a GPSmyCity walking tour map that that came with some brief explanatory notes. This enabled us to get around the city and see most of the main sites and to get a feel for the lovely mediaeval walled town. Lucca apparently has the only complete and Intact city wall in all of Italy.
The Romans were here back in 180 BC and the city still maintains the Roman orthogonal planning and winding streets. These are lined with plenty of cafes and restaurants but also loads of lovely upmarket clothing boutiques for both men and women. I really think you could spend the best part of a day here just browsing the clothing boutiques.
We left Lucca by about 2.30 pm and headed back to the hotel where we went straight to the pool for a few hours of relaxation. This had been the ideal day as far as I was concerned; a relaxed morning where we both got to do some exercise followed by a bit of sightseeing and, when it got too hot, an opportunity to spend time either by a pool or the beach. Finding Viareggio and this particular hotel had been a stroke of good fortune for which I was extremely grateful. We were very lucky to be able to spend some time winding down at this lovely hotel and location.
It was 6.30 pm before we drifted down to the bar at the hotel for an aperitif and we went back up to our room near 7.30 pm to catch the sunset which was beautiful. Our dinner at the hotel was totally adequate but nothing to rave about. We were back in our room by 9 pm and ready for bed after a rather full day. Tomorrow we are going to tackle Pisa!
Sat 16th Sept: half day trip to Pisa
There was a bit of drizzle about when we woke this morning but not enough to put us off having a walk. We decided to walk in a southerly direction along the promenade today and check out this end of the beach. There were some lovely sculptures and buildings to view along this path and we ended up at the Port region. There was a canal from the beach that headed inland and, with some cute little boats pottering along, it was a little bit reminiscent of Venice.
Our plan for the morning was to visit Pisa and so we set off by about 10 am for the 30 minute drive. Parking was fairly easy but negotiating the crowds was not quite so. It was like the Easter Show on a sunny Easter Sunday; it was absolutely packed.
There weren’t any guided walking tours available for us so we opted for two 40 minute walking tours available on VoiceMap. The first took us from the Leaning Tower of Pisa through the old town and towards the River Arno and the second took us back. They were only okay but the second one was definitely the better of the two. It was on the second tour that we learned about the existence of Tower Houses and there used to be 20,000 of them throughout the city but now there are only two. The others weren’t knocked down, rather, they were incorporated into newer structures and, once we were made aware of this, we could see these incorporated Towers all through the city; they were everywhere.
It was getting close to 2 pm before we left Pisa and it was 36° Celsius so the plan was to head back to the hotel and have an afternoon by the pool. I had wanted to check out an area, Forte deli Marmi, which was about 20 minutes further north of our hotel and where the Louis Vuitton shop was located so we drove through this suburb on our way back home. It was a much more upmarket area than where we were staying and with an abundance of luxury, high-end retail shops. It was also much greener which made it more appealing and so I think if I was ever to return to this area I would try and look for something here, not just because of the shops, but because of the nicer surroundings and the lovely landscaping.
It had become a bit overcast by the time we got back to our hotel so Mark decided he’d go for a bike ride and then we’d assess whether we would go to the beach or pool after that. We ended up down at the pool for a while before heading to the aperitif hour at our hotel. Neither of us were hungry so we ended up just getting a gelato after that and heading back to our room for an early night. Tomorrow we head to San Gimignano. We’d greatly enjoyed our time in Viareggio and would recommend this region to anyone visiting the area in the heat of Summer or Autumn.
