Europe14: Day 3 - Exploring Lerici

The morning started with a 7am CET wake up and a cool, solo walk along the boardwalk to get back to the car parking lot (about half a mile walk).  It was a beautiful walk in the peaceful morning.  There was no wind, so the gulf was crystal blue-green and the air was crisp and clear allowing me to see the barrier island clearly.  The rising sun over the hillside and, further back, Alpi Apuane, left a golden sparkle on everything around the waterfront.  At that moment, I can see why the poets, Percy Shelley and Lord Byron, stayed here for extended periods to draw inspiration.

The morning walk wasn't just for the ascetic value.  The night before when we arrive, the parking lot attendant had already left for the day and we could only buy short-term tickets to cover us until 8am today.  The first mission of the morning was to find where to buy the week-long parking passes.

I arrived back at my car a little before 8am, after the inspirational walk along the gulf.  Car was safe and had no tickets.  However, finding where to buy the weekly parking pass was the next adventure.  The signs around the automated teller were not all that helpful (even after translating them).  I did remember seeing a little info hut at the entrance to the parking lot at the lot entrance.  A short walk up a steep hill and I found the info booth, but the attended doesn't arrive until 8:30.  Being the impatient American, I decided to walk down to the other information booth at the bottom of the lot to see if they had passes.  So, I trucked it back down the hill. Alas, they were closed.

What to do now?  Well, there was a hotel nearby, the Hotel Florida.  "Great!" I think, English speaking reception can probably tell me how to get a parking pass.  Well friends, the reception at Hotel Florida doesn't speak very good English.  About all I got out of them is they couldn't give me a pass unless I was staying there.  So it is about 8:30 by this point, so I head back to the car and decide to drive back to the top of the parking lot hill and waited on the attendant to arrive. A short while later, the attendant arrive and I was the proud owner of a two week (they were out of 1 week) parking passes for Lerici.   Mission accomplished.

On my scenic stroll back to little house (Il Fondetto),I got a text from Sara requesting that I bring back coffee and some pastries for the kids (who were still asleep).  Scratching my head a little, I thought, "to go coffee in Italy?"  So I stopped in a little coffee shop by day, bar by night at the boardwalk to find the requested coffee to-go.

After waiting for a few locals to complete their orders (loving the lack of tourist), I made my request for lattes to go to the 30-something barista.  He thought for a minute, then told me to wait and disappeared around the corner.  A few minutes later, he returned with a plastic Solo-like cup and said, "this ok?"  Snickering a little, I said, "sure" and he made up the lattes.  A few minutes later, with two very hot coffees in plastic cups and with two donuts under each arm, I made my way up the hill to the house.  Coffees to go: mission complete.

The kids were up once I made it to the house, a little sleepy, but getting their morning started.  Donuts were a welcome sight and perked them up.  We quickly finished up the coffees and made our way down the hill. 

To get our blood moving for the days activities, we started out exploring the center of Lerici and Garibaldi square. Most of the shops were along a few narrow streets right off the boardwalk by the Gulf.  Like many small Italian towns, it is good that they don't allow cars down the narrow streets.  Beach paraphernalia, small local clothing stores, toy stores and restaurants were the typical things you would see down each street we traveled.

Next stop was the Castello di Lerici (Castle Lerici), the prominent castle overlooking the gulf area, and Lerici's most iconic feature.  The start o the walk was though a tunnel under the castle to which lead to the other side of the sea cliff the castle is perched on.  The tunnel was lined with art attached to the walls which were from a local art project here the artist painted adaptations of famous paintings, but set in the local area.  For example, there was and adaptation of Van Gogh's "Stary Night", but with Lerici hillside and barrier islands in the scene.  Most of them were quite well done, preserving the style of the original work.

The path up to the castle somewhat like a goat trail up the side of a hill, but with some paved in some parts.  It started out by going behind a cliff-side restaurant at the end of the tunnel.  After about 200 ft of elevation gain through switchbacks and stairs, we arrived at the castle. 

Arriving at the castle courtyard, we were greeted with  an amazing view of the gulf and the seaside on the other side of the castle. Of course, I completely bored the family taking pictures of the view.  The castle itself is pretty neat, having several different architectural styles as you go up the walls, as different periods added there part to the construction.   We walked along the edge of the castle courtyard, checking it out, but did not go into the castle itself, as it is a Dinosaur museum now.

Full of castle views  and beautiful scenes, it was time to go for a late lunch.  We strolled down the narrow winding streets from the castle to the Garibaldi Square, the main square in Lerici at the terminus of the boardwalk.    We settled on the La Mano di Fatima restaurant for lunch for some nice Italian food (ie: pizzas for the kids).  After lunch the kids played in the square chasing pigeons as Sara and I finished up our lunch.  It was a very nice, relaxing feeling.

Now stuffed, we all headed back to the little house for some down time.  Some napped, some played games on their phones, some tried to get the WiFi working.  A lazy afternoon at the beautiful little house was just what we needed.

The day ended with another stroll into town to find our favorite Italian food: Gelato.  Back down to Garibaldi plaza to the best gelato shop in town, Gelateria Acrobaleno.  The owner of the shop was serving us and noticed my Portland Timbers shirt.  That started a conversation where we learned that he was a international sales rep for Nike in the 80's, and got to come to Portland during that time for a big international sales conference.   Really nice guy, who we affectionately call "tall guy" as he is probably 6'5" or taller. The gelato was also quite awesome, which included his own local favor called "Lerici", which has pine nuts and other things from the area in it. This became our go-to gelato stop for the rest of our town in Lerici.

And thus, the 3rd day came to a close.

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.

Europe14 - Day 1.5 and 5 countries

Off the Browning family is again for another European adventure!  A little more than three weeks to wreak havoc on the on the Continent on this trip, with many escapades to be had.  The anchor point of this Europe outing is a week in  Tuscan villa with 3 other neighborhood families to celebrate some special birthdays, including Sara's 40th birthday.  So, two years older and wiser than last time, we are all off to Europe!

The kick off of the trip started the same way it did on our Europe trip two years ago: the family packed in a rental car driving to Seattle.  About four hours later, with a lunch stop and some gnarly traffic at the Tacoma Dome, we arrived at the SeaTac airport.  We dropped off the rental car and made our way through Iceland Air check in and security, both of which were surprisingly short.

Arriving at the gate, we were greeted by one of traveling companions, our neighbors, the Harmonds.  The time before the flight went quickly as everyone spend some time catching up and chatting about the fun to be had in Europe.  All aboard... and the flight was off.

The first flight was from Seatlle to Iceland.  Flying Iceland Air to Europe is one of the best ways to get there.  The flight from Seattle is a little over 6 hours, which is a nice way to break up a transcontinental flight to shorter and more kid-friendly lengths.  They also give the kids under a certain age free dinners, and they have large, individual viewing screens (with USB chargers!) with lots of on-demand movies.  If you book early enough, they also have some great rates on some flights.  Ok, enough of the Iceland Air advertisement :).

The flight to Iceland was mostly uneventful.  None of us really slept, except for Katy getting about an hour of sleep towards the end of the flight.  The flight left Seattle at 4pm, and arrived at Iceland at 6am, so this flight was the time to get sleep.  I had a lovely couple from The Netherlands sitting next to me, with a 9 month old baby.  The baby did pretty good, but had a few crying times as she got very tired and had a hard time going to sleep. The kids played games and Sara read her book, and I watched a movie and read a few articles I clipped for the flight.

Flight landed in Iceland and a quick pass through customs lead us to the main concourse.  We hurriedly said goodbye to the Harmonds (will be meeting back up with them in a week) and got on the next flight to Munich. Country Count = 1.

The flight to Munich went pretty quickly.  Exhaustion finally caught up to me and Katy, and I think that Noah even slept a little on the flight.  A short 3.5 hours later and we landed in Munich.  Getting our bags was quick and painless.  A short time at the Hertz counter secured our car for the next 3 weeks: a Hyundai mini SUV.  Plenty of room in the back for our one carry-on sized bag per person plus backpacks.  I spent a few minutes getting the "cockpit" setup with Jane (the name we affectionately call our GPS), my rearview mirror phone holder (bondi) and the cigarette lighter USB chargers for front and rear devices.  Reminds me that I need to give some ideas to the Intel crew working on automotive products :).  Finally, all was ready and we headed out on the Autobahn (2pm CET).  Country Count = 2.

So, the autobahn is fun, even in a MiniSUV.  It is enjoyable driving in Europe, as it is an active sport, not a lazy lumber down the highway like many US road trips.  Always a BMW on your tail driving 160 MPH.  The little Hyundai even got up to 100 MPH for about 20 miles (ok... it was down hill).

A couple of hours later the Alps were filling our view as we crossed the Austrian border.  As we zipped across the border, we did happen to notice a sign that said something about tolls, but wasn't quite sure what it mean.  A quick query on Google and we found out that we were supposed to buy a tariff card and display it on our car when driving on Austria interstates.  Oops.  So we get off at the next exit and hunt through a small town for a gas station. After about 10 minutes of terrorizing the people in this small town with my American driving skills, we found a gas station which sold the tariff cards and we were off again.  Country count = 3.

About 15 miles down the road, Jane told us to get off the interstate and make our way across a short transition road to another interstate about a mile away.  As we crossed a river on this transition road, we ran into a small booth which looked like a toll booth.  I approached and a uniformed cop walked up to the car, smiled and ask to see my license.  I gave it to him and he said "oh, Oregon" and gave it a quick closer inspection.  Smiling he ask if I knew who "John Browning" was.  Not quite understanding him, I stated I wasn't sure. He said "John Browning" and pointed to his pistol and made a gun firing down.  Oops, somewhat embarrassed, I said "of course!".  He smiled, handed back my license, and said, "Have a nice day in Switzerland!".  We all cracked up as we drove away.  We had no idea we were at the border after being in Austria for 15 minutes.  We spent more time looking for the tariff card that we did driving in Austria.  Country Count = 4.

We drove through Switzerland for about 30 minutes.  It was a beautiful drive as we were now getting into the heart of the Alps.  The Rhine river was keeping us company on the right of the highway.  As we reached one particularly beautiful area, our cel phones gave a quick chrip with a welcome message to Lichtenstein!  Country Count = 5!

A short while later, Jane directed us to leave the interstate and make our way across the Rhine on a small road and entering the cute town of Vaduz, the capital  of Liechtenstein.   Watching over the town was an impressive castle on the hillside, the home of the reigning prince of Liechtenstein.

We made our way through the town, carefully driving on the narrow streets filled with people coming and going through town (it was about 7pm on Sunday).  A short while we arrived at our hotel, the Meierhof Hotel. The Meierhof is a cute little hotel on the hillside above Vaduz.  From the parking lot, it offered and amazing view of the Alps across the Rhine valley.  We were greased by a very friendly woman at the reception, who checked us in and offered us some tips for the evening.  It turns out that Switzerland was playing Ecuador that evening, and they had setup a big tent in the town center where everyone was going to watch the game.  Score!

After putting out stuff in our awesome little family room (two separate bedrooms, one for the parents, one for the kids), we made our way to the center of town just about 30m into the Swiss vs Ecuador game.  We found a great restaurant, Cafe Engel, right across from the big screen and proceeded to have some awesome Swiss food (Schnitzel, Spaztle, etc), drinking the local brew, and watching the game.  And what a finish to the game.  The late score for the Swiss to win the game elecrtifed the town.  There was 30 minutes of cheer and celebrating in the tent, followed by several cars of teenagers driving through the main strip waving swiss flags.  Tummies full and with a smile on our faces, we made our way back to the hotel to end our day.

And what a day, well day and half it was!  9 hours of flying.  3 hours of driving.  5 countries, and soccer with a few hundred of the locals.  We are off to a good start!