Italy

A few weeks ago, we decided to escape our daily routine for a few days over Christmas.  We were searching some cheap holidays close by and Italy was our option. We planned our holidays (accomodation and some small schedules and places to visit) and we hit the road.

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In the early evening, after work and school we drove until Milan, where we could see some family (that we didn’t see for more than 10 years), and we stayed at their place.

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The day after was quite busy. We had a small walk in Sesto San Giovanni where we could visit a library (Pietro Lincoln Cadioli). After that, our relatives took us to Monza, known mostly by the F1 race. The first impressions about the typical architecture were good, but the streets were too dirty.

Later that day, we got the subway from Sesto to Milan (it costs 1,50€) and we could visit a lot in a quite short time. It was already evening but even the cold didn’t stop us. Luckily our relatives were with us, so they could show us aroung and we could reach the places quite fast. We visited the impressive Duomo, the „Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II“, the Castle Sforzesco, walked by the theatre „Scala“ and visited the food section of the shopping „Rinascente“ (you need to try those eclairs!). We finished the day with a dinner in a lovely Italian restaurant close by.

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The next morning we hit the road to Marina di Pisa (around 3h30 driving from Milan). The weather was sunny and we were in a good mood ✌ This little village by the sea is just a 15 minutes drive away from Pisa (known for the leaning tower). So after arriving in our Airbnb, we went to the beach which was just 2 minutes away, looking for a place to have lunch. The promenade way was really lovely and the beach with its white stones is quite special. We spent some time walking (with Maria) but as it was winter and off season, it was really quiet and not a lot of restaurants and bars were open.

After finding out that pretty much everything was closed and making our own sandwiches from the supermarket, we decided to drive to Pisa to see the tower. We swore to ourselves before to not take any embarassing pictures with the tower and guess what we ended up doing. We had a good time next to a few asian tourists.

The tower and especially the cathedral next to it were really impressive but also a bit creepy by night. It is really amazing how such monuments can mesmerize everyone and how hundreds of years ago, people spent centuries building them.

Meanwhile it was time for dinner (yes, we are always eating) so we checked for some good restaurants close by. We ended up in a nice but overrated italian restaurant, totally overprotected by both the owner and the waiter who came asking if the food is good every few minutes. All in all, we had a funny evening and returned to Marina di Pisa after a short stroll through some streets of Pisa. Unfortunately, the heating in the flat didn’t work properly and we spent quite a cold night.

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The next morning, we decided to look for another Airbnb in the area & leave Marina di Pisa. We ended up booking a room in La Spezia, which is around 1 hour driving (north). After we arrived in the early afternoon, we walked through the busy streets and to the port where we had a nice view of the city. We spent Christmas Eve having dinner at a restaurant called Accanto in the city centre. It was just recently openend and really lovely with a vintage touch (and an impressive variety of drinks and digestifs). The crew was really friendly and helpful, they even showed us their impressive wine cellar. The food was mostly tasty but it was a bit a pity that they didn’t have a lot on the menu yet, so we didn’t have a lot to choose from.

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The next day, we wanted to see something of the area around. After breakfast, we did a small walk up a hill where we could see all over the city and the hills. Then we decided to drive to Portovenere which is about 15 minutes from La Spezia. It’s one of the villages in the Cinque Terre. We walked through the narrow streets, by the port and to the castle ruins on top, where you could see the cliffs. It reminded us of Game of Thrones 🌃. We had lunch at a super lovely restaurant called Elettra. In the later afternoon we drove to Lerici to take a quick walk by the port and soak in the view.

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On the last day, we travelled back to Switzerland. We left La Spezia in the morning and drove via Genova and Milan to Como to have lunch there, as we had never been before and as it seems to be a beautiful area (even George Clooney has a house there). Unfortunately, the weather was grey and cloudy so we couldn’t see the view but at least our last Pizza in Italy was delicious and after a few hours we arrived safely back home.

 

Travel tips:

• Be sure you tank your car in the cities/villages and avoid the service areas in the highways, because the prices are so much higher. On this you will save a lot of money.
• Prepare some snacks for the trip which you can easily eat in the car while you drive. That way you are not tempted to buy (junk) food wherever you stop.
• If your choice is a southern country and you decide to rent a flat or a room, make sure to check before if it’s properly heated and has airconditioning.

Plus:

• We could take Maria everywhere. None restaurant/bar said „no“ to dogs and that was a bonus. It makes things a lot easier when you are travelling with your pets.
• In all restaurants and stores the employees were kind and welcoming.
• We could park our car almost everywhere without paying, because it seems the police doesn’t check it.
• The landscapes and villages are really charming and interesting because of their history.

Minus:

• Often we walked through quite dirty streets.
• Many of the buildings are really old and not really prepared for winter.
• We saw crazy scenes on the street. Be ready for some savage driving 😀
• The toilets, well… Let’s just say, keeping the toilets clean doesn’t always seem so important to café-owners etc.

 

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