France 2015: Escalier or Ascenseur: Scaling Castle Hill

I woke up early so I had no excuse not to make the trek up to the top of Castle Hill. The little tourist train my mom and I had taken up when we visited Nice didn't start running until 10am so it was either the elevator inside the mountain or the stairs all the way up. I was fine with taking the elevator - nothing to prove. On the way to the hill, I walked through the Cours Saleya market with flower and fruit sellers just setting up for the day...and a frou-frou dog patiently waiting.

Next to the Hotel Suisse was the elevator. However, next to the ascenseur sign was the schedule saying it opened at 10am. Doesn't anything open before 10am in France? So nothing left to do but start climbing stairs - there were a lot more stairs than the ones showing in my photo... I took several "photo breaks" on the way up to disguise my need rest my legs. I even met a few locals along the way out for a run or to walk their dogs. Nothing like seeing Nice from above!

Stopped into McDonalds on the way back to my hotel for the best hot chocolate ever!  All it took was hot frothy milk and a packet of coco.

France 2015: Vento Forte - Taking the Long Way to Nice

Sanremo by the sea from the bus

Snow capped mountains from the train

I would have liked this post to be about my lovely day in Nice, France. However by the time I reached Nice, most of the day had past. This was due to the effects of Vento Forte. All night long in Genoa wicked winds howled through my balcony windows. Even my earplugs couldn't keep out the squeals and groans. I was happy to see a clear sky in the morning, but that feeling was short lived. I couldn't see my train stop on the main departure board when I got to the station. OK, often times my stop is just one of many along the train route, so I asked the info desk. I was told "big winds no train to Ventimiglia". "Cosa?" Well upon further explanation I found out there was a stretch of impassable tracks due to the winds over night so we would stop at an earlier station and then be bussed to another and then catch the train to Ventimiglia (then on to Nice on a different train). I was a bit nervous wondering if I would even make it to Nice tonight. Luckily the group of travelers sitting next to me were discussing the trains and I could tell (even with my non-existent Italian) non of them really knew what was happening. So about 2 hours into our trip we arrived at the end of the line. It was a mad rush to get on one of the buses, it didn't seem to matter if you spoke Italian or not. It felt like being shoved onto the Metro in Moscow at rush hour. I found a kind lady from Switzerland going to Nice and basically followed her everywhere. Needless to say her grammar school English was more proficient than my Italian or French. We communicated with smiles and me picking out any words I could understand.

Our bus took to the winding coastal roads like it was a Maserati. We found out it was going all the way to Ventimiglia and so we sat back and enjoyed the roller coaster ride stopping in Taggia and Sanremo to let off passengers. When I finally got to Nice I was only about 1 1/2 later than planned. Unfortunately, that was just enough time to miss all the things I wanted to do that evening. I checked into the Hotel Amaryllis and then set out for the sea. It was only about 10 minutes walk but the sun was setting quickly on the Cote d'Azur (yes that is a mini Statue of Liberty in front of the opera house.) Maybe I can get up early to see some things before my train to Nimes...

Italy 2015: Side Trip to Picturesque Boccadasse

I didn't want to travel all day to get from Bologna to Nice, France so I decided to stopover in Genoa. I took the high speed train to Milan (such a nice way to travel – felt like I was in a plane) and then the regular (lots of stops) train down to Genoa. I came here 3 years ago when I visited the Cinque Terre and saw a lot of the old town Genoa then. I was happy to find a little fishing village called Boccadasse along the outskirts of Genoa that had the charm and colorful buildings of the Cinque Terre towns. I could take a bus from the train station (just around the corner from my hotel) and try to make the most of my cloudy afternoon. The wind had picked up by the time I reached Boccadasse. There were a few locals but only one other tourist I could see taking photos. 

I can imagine that this place is packed when the weather is nicer. I enjoyed some pistachio gelato frozen on a stick enrobed in chocolate with toffee sprinkles. Amazing! I stepped in to the local church to get out of the wind and sat for a moment. This was the first time I ever saw replicas of ships hanging like chandeliers from the rafters…you can sure tell this was a mariner’s church. 

Note to self: remember to buy the return bus ticket beforehand – it may be difficult to find a Tabacchini stand. I thought the bus ride out was only about 15 minutes, so I decided to walk back along the Corso Italia. It was downhill almost all the way back to Brignole Train Station and there were plenty of dog walkers and locals out for a stroll to keep me company. Over an hour later I made it back to the starting point. I think that was another 5K walk for me! I should really have a T-shirt for every day I walk over 5K…like EVERY day. OK. San Marino wasn’t 5K, but there were A LOT of stairs. 

 

Too tired to find café, I ducked into the Mercato Orientale for some focaccia with olives and a bottle of lemon soda. Dinner of the gods! I am staying in the same hotel I was in 3 years ago as well, Albergo Astro. Each room has a theme and last time it was fish (lobster and crab in fishing nets on the wall) this time it is the Sun room with bright shiny suns surrounding my bed. I even have a balcony, not that I will get much use of it with the rain coming…