July 16 - Florence to San Remo

Firenze to San Remo July 16.


It was due to get hotter in Firenze – no wonder the only people there this time of year are tourists.

We hit the Autostrada in the direction the coast. The traffic seems to flow on these amazingly well. Everyone keeps to the right (or the “slow” lane), unless passing. We were poking along at 130kmph, but cars were flying past us. So Brian arked up the Renault to 150, but Audis and Beamers, Mercs. and Alfa’s were still coming up behind us and flashing their lights – that is the signal to pull into the “slow” lane. So we settled back into a comfortable 130.

We stopped at Pisa for a look at the tower. Similar to Firenze – packed with tourists and trashy souvenir stalls. The Cathedral and Tower are quite spectacular, but all the trash around them detracts from the overall impression.

It was getting late in the day when we reached the coast and started back up towards France, so decided to look for a hotel. This took awhile. It is holiday time in Europe, for the locals as well as the influx of overseas visitors, so accommodation was at a premium – both price wise and vacancies. After numerous “Completo Full” signs, or ridiculous prices we settled on a single room – not much bigger than a walk in robe with 4 beds in it at a place just outside San Remo. The hotel was called Hotel Graziella. Your Italian Mediterranean coastal resort is not flash. Best descriptions are dirty, sleazy and slightly run down looking. The beach does not exist – just a bit of gravely stuff and rows and rows of deck chairs that you have to rent. We had dinner of bread, Jambon (ham) and cheese on some rocks by the water, until the bad smell forced us out. The girls watched a free local talent show that was taking place beside the beach, and Brian and I had a bottle of red, and the rest of the bread and cheese overlooking the boat harbour.