Europe14: Day 2 - The road to Lerici

So the exhausted crew of Day 1.5 slept pretty well our first night in Europe.  Once could say that staying up for most of 36 hours is a way to force yourself to get used to the time change :).  The kids slept through the night without issue. Sara and I both woke up about 4am and had some trouble getting back to sleep.  It must have worked at some point, however, as we were greeted by our alarm clock around 8am CET.

The first order of business was to get some breakfast.  A wonderful continental breakfast was included with the cost of the Meierhof Hotel room.  It was a tradition breakfast for the region, having various sliced meats, cheeses, yogurt and granola, breads and jams, all served in cute dinning room with an amazing view of the Alps as a backdrop.

After filling our bellies, we backed up our gear was bid farewell to the Meierhof.  Before hitting the road again, we took an hour to drive up the hill to see the Vaduz castle.  After finding a parking spot a quarter of a mile away, we made our way down to the castle and enjoyed to amazing view of the Rhine valley from vantage point.   Unfortunately, you can't go in the castle, as the prince is living there this time of year, unless you happen to know him :).  After enough picture to get the traditional family eye-roll, it was off on the road again!

Today was another travel day, making our way down from Liechtenstein to Lerici in the Italian Rivera. Time to put the little Hyundai to the test with some mountain driving and Italian interstate.

The first leg of the drive takes us through the Alps of Switzerland and into northern Italy.  This section of the drive has got to be one of the most beautiful I have ever taking.  The sheer size and contrast of the tall Alps to the valleys we were winding though were a sight to behold.  Glaciers clinging to the mountainsides with streams and plunging waterfalls around every corner.  And of course, the exhilarating feeling of driving on mountain roads with switchbacks, occasional traffic and 4 mile long tunnels through the heart of the Alps keeps the driver on his toes :).  And the little Hyundai did just fine.

As we were reaching the Italian border, we decided to stop for lunch in Lugano, Switzerland, and the suggestion of our Hotel Meierhof receptionist suggestion.  So off the interstate we go to find the town.  After a few navigation challenges through the industrial part of the city, we manage to find out way to the center part of town and grab a parking spot.

One word to describe Lugano.  Wow.  Simply Wow.  A cute Italian-style town nestled between the end of the Alps mountains with the center of town bordering a fabulous mountain lake.  Quite a sight to behold.  We took a stroll along the lakeside park to make our way down to the center area of town and find some lunch.

The lunch choice was at cafe named Tango, where we got our first taste of Italian food for the trip.  Lunch was quite good, with a particularly enjoyable cheese and bacon gnocchi.  The kids had their standard fair, pizza for Noah and spaghetti for Katy.

Another stroll through the breathtaking views to reach our car again and we were off down the road, about half way to Lerici (3 hours to go).  Soon we hit this Italian border and the road flatted out and slapped us with the contrast of entering the industrial areas on the north side of Milan.  Not what we would say is the all that exciting to look at.

Fortunately, there was plenty of excitement during this part to keep us entertained as I got to have my first experience driving on Italian interstates and Sara got to navigate us through the outskirts of Milan.  Lets see, rules of the road are approximately to go fast, fill any available space, cut folks off, and only occasionally use your blinker to indicate your plan.   "Active driving required".  Got it.  After a few miles of being in the Milan fray, I was managing pretty well and we left the Milan area to we the roads were less crowded and the picturesque Italian country side took over.

About another hour into the trip we made it past the beautiful Italian coastal mountain range and left the interstate.  Now the driving was on narrow streets winding through small hillside villages.   I managed not to hit any pedestrians or mopeds.  Finally we wheeled into the Lerici area and made our way to the rendezvous point to meet the apartment owner we are renting from.

Well, making it to the rendezvous point turned out to be a little harder than expected :-). We drove along some winding narrow streets, turned a corner, and Jane proudly announced that we should turn around, as we just missed it.  Sara and I both looked at each other, wondering what we had missed. However, being on a one way road mean that we continued to drive, then take a left towards the town at the next round-about, in hopes of finding a road that would return us to the area. Well, the left took us right down into the middle of Lerici, the cutest seaside town you could imagine.  A quick honk a few minutes later reminded met to quit gawking and get back to the business of finding our rendezvous.

The second time around proved more fruitful.  This time passing by the rendezvous point, we realized that instead of a bus station, it is a bus stop we were supposed to meet at.  After a few minutes of searching around, we found Ada, the wonderful person renting her little house to us for the next several days.

Ada is lovely older Italian lady.  She greeted us with a pek on each check and had us pull down a very steep driveway to unload our baggage.  After getting our stuff out of the car, we made our way up a short flight of steps to the house.  As soon as we saw the place we knew that we had made a good choice.  I lovely little outdoor living area greeted us, complete with a hammock (Noah's favorite), outdoor chairs and table, stone BBQ, and lemon and olive trees.  The inside of the house was equally as cute, with two bedrooms and a small dining / kitchen area; similar to what you might find in a typical European studio.

Ada proceed to talk to us constantly for the next 30 minutes, asking us about our trip while at the same time telling us all about the house, and all the things we must do while we are in town.  Heads swimming with information we bid her farewell and set off to go park the car on the edge of town.

See, Lerici does not let you park cars in town unless you live in the town.  So, the only option for visitors is to park you car in a big lot on the edge of town for your stay.  It may sound inconvenient, but it actual is a great idea. It keeps the amount of cars on the road to a minimum and allows pedestrians much easier access to the town.  We found a spot, purchased a parking pass for the night and head out on the walk back to town.

And what a walk it was.  At the end of the parking lot we first met the Gulf of Poets, as this area is named.  In the distance the sun was setting behind the barrier islands of the gulf, creating  spectacular color array and light beams across the sky. We walked along the waters edge on the boardwalk that runs from San Terenza (the next town over) to Lerici, drinking in the beauty with every step.

Tired and hungry, we quickly settled in at the Bar Corona in for a evening meal.  Yeah, it wasn't the most authentic Italian place, but some comfort bar food, including a hot dog for Noah really hit the spot.  So we ate and drank in a merry celebration of making it to Lerici without issue, and enjoyed the last half of the World Cup game on the bar TV (Iran vs Niagara).   Sadly, I was too exhausted to stay up until 2am to watch the US beat Ghana.

We sleepily headed back to our house and crashed.