Author: Oli

Having spent the last couple of days exploring Lucca itself, we were keen to see some more of what Tuscany had to offer.

In the morning we hopped on an early-ish train Pisa, since no trip to Tuscany would be complete without a visit to the famous leaning tower. Knowing that tickets were sold out online, we joined the queue to find a lone ticket was still available for the final slot before we needed to return to Lucca. We snapped it up for Sara, since I’d visited the tower only last month as part of a highly cultural stag weekend.

We spent the next few hours exploring the cathedral and some of the quieter piazzas around the leaning tower. More importantly, we also squeezed in lunch at L’Ostellino. I’d also visited this tiny sandwich deli last month, and had hyped it up quite a bit to Sara. I picked up a roast pork, brie, olive tapenade and chilli sandwich, while Sara went for prosciutto, pecorino, honey, pear and walnut. Both lived up to expectations, and this place now occupies two spaces in my list of top ten sandwiches ever. I asked Sara for her opinion, but apparently she doesn’t keep a list of her top 10 sarnies 🤷🏻

Sara then joined the queue for her tour up the tower. However, a combination of slippery steps and wobbly knees meant that she only managed a single lap of the top deck of the tower, pausing just long enough to give me a wave. Good luck trying to spot her in the photo!

We returned to Lucca following a power walk back to the station. This was necessary to make it to our next excursion on time – which was almost certainly the most romantic date I’d ever planned – a tandem bike ride through the Tuscan hills followed by a wine tasting at a local vineyard. However, the reality of a 35 degree bike ride in the afternoon sun set in quickly as we wobbled our way through one of Lucca’s city gates. Then, just as we’d started to hit our stride and the buildings and traffic made way for vines, the road turned steeply uphill. I frantically searched for a lower gear as our bike lost speed, only to find that there were no gears, and we quickly ground to a halt. I have no shame in admitting that we pushed the tandem up the final stretch, arriving at the vineyard with very rosy cheeks even before we’d hit the wine.

The wine tasting itself turned out to be more of a set menu accompanied by wine pairings. In fact, the 4 courses and 4 glasses of wine was probably the best dining experience in Italy so far, and the views over the Italian countryside were just the icing on the cake. The vineyard itself was owned by a half-Italian, half-Wisconsin chap who was understandably proud of his dual heritage, and who gave us the warmest of welcomes. We happily grazed our way through the courses, and all-too-soon it was time to head back to Lucca in order to return the tandem. This direction was easier now that gravity was on our side, not to the mention the additional ballast and dutch courage.

The following morning, we passed another couple on a tandem cycling serenely through Lucca’s cobbled streets as we made our way to the station. I can only assume our arrival at the vineyard was similarly graceful.

We returned to Turin on our way to the Cinque Terre and were keen to make the most of the afternoon and evening we had available.

First up was a very warm walk to the Mole Antonelliana – the iconic tower displayed on Italy’s 2-cent coin. After queuing for entry we were told to return in two hours for our slot to ride the lift to the viewing deck. For future reference – it’s definitely worth booking online at busy times!

With time to kill, we took a stroll across the Dora Riparia (river) to reach what was currently a very sleepy neighbourhood. Clearly, our ambition to make the most of our afternoon didn’t quite align with the rest of Turin’s population, who were wisely hiding from the afternoon heat. Still, we found a cafe in a quiet square to enjoy a refreshing local beer to pass the time. Sara enjoyed watching a man on the neighbouring table who was trying to train his pigeon friend to eat politely. It wasn’t going well.

The panoramic lift up the tower passed through the centre of the Museum of Cinema, which was both incredible and stomach-turning in equal measures. Less than a minute later, we’d arrived at the observation deck, which provided a 360 degree panorama over Turin’s rooftops, backed by the Alps on one side.

Next up, I’d managed to convince Sara that the tram was the perfect mode of transport to our next destination – Parco del Valentino. To my delight, a historic orange tram arrived, and we happily rattled along beside the river. In all honesty, I’m not sure the tram was any quicker than walking, but what it lacked in speed it made up in style.

We strolled through the park and finally found where the people of Turin were enjoying the weather – watching some live music next to the river with a bar.

We ended the day by trying the Torino speciality of an apericena – an aperitif accompanied by a colossal tagliere (sharing platter) – at Beerba. This kept us fully occupied for the rest of the evening!

This second visit to Turin was part of our transit to the Cinque Terre – 5 villages perched in a row along the rocky coastline. We’d heard so many good things that our levels of anticipation couldn’t be higher, and my goodness did it deliver.

While our 2010 carbon audit taught us that we’ll need to embrace travelling slowly in order to minimise our carbon footprint, we were also keen to start our trip with a bang. “Breakfast in London, lunch in Paris, and dinner in Turin” sounded pretty exciting, and we loved the idea of beginning the trip in Italy. However, the reality was that this would require a 5.30am start, 10 hours spent on trains, and nearly £250 spent on train tickets. Still, we decided to go for it, with the promise to ourselves that we’d slow down once we arrived in Italy.

Following our Eurostar from London to Paris, we needed to cross Paris to catch our onward train to Turin. We’d had an early start, but I was feeling a lot fresher following a three-hour nap on the Eurostar, so we opted to make the five-kilometre connection from Gare du Nord to Gare de Lyon on foot. We emerged into beautiful Parisian sunshine, and stopped almost immediately in Jardin Villemin for lunch and to open a few cards from our friends that we’d saved for the journey – thanks Amy, George & Erin 🥲 Five kilometres might not sound like a long way, but it certainly felt like it in the 34 degree midday heat and with our freshly packed bags! However, we enjoyed admiring the slowly changing architecture and street art along the way.

Our Frecciarossa high-speed train flew through France en route to Lyon, but then slowed significantly for the final third of the journey through the Alps. Finally, six hours and a couple of naps later, we arrived in Turin. We picked up a late-night pizza and called it a night.

We didn’t need our alarms the next morning, as we were awoken by some refurbishment of the room opposite – maybe that’s why I’d managed to get such a good rate on the reservation?! To make up for this, I headed out to collect some breakfast and coffee while Sara slept, and then together we left to spend the morning exploring Turin.

Our route to Piazza Castello took us along Via Pietro Micca, where we loved the blend of Parisian and Viennese architecture, as well as the mix of old and new trams.

We enjoyed a sandwich overlooking Porta Palatina – the red brick remains of a Roman-era gate – before hopping between shaded areas as we navigated Giardini Reali. The first half of our stay in Turin ended with a quick walk back to the hotel to grab our bags in order to jump on the 14:34 train to Aosta – a bilingual city in nestled in the Italian Alps. I say jumped because we nearly missed the train altogether. In fact, I’d only discovered the train had stopped further down the platform when Sara sent me to validate our tickets!

Overall, our route from London to Turin by train and on foot certainly took longer than a flight. However, it did save 136 kilograms of Carbon Dioxide Equivalent (kgCO2e). Not bad!